The Mind of the Cherry Blossom
by animea-hime
Summary: She has returned. But there seems to be something she knows that they don’t. Before it’s too late she must tell them & save Konoha, at the same time, she must confront her heart and mind about her feelings to a certain Uchiha.. Simple right? SxS Rated T
1. Prologue

Prologue: Return

**Summary: **She has returned. But there seems to be something she knows that they don't. Before it's too late she must tell them and save Konoha, at the same time, she must confront her heart, mind and soul about her feelings to a certain Uchiha. Simple enough right? What if it seemed every thing and one was against her? What would she do? Did her training for five years prepapre her for the future that is about to come? Sasusaku. Rated T for violence.

--

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Inner selves'**_

"Talking"

_FLASH BACK…_

P.O.V

--

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

--

She promised she would come back. They kept reminding themselves that, yet, now almost five years since she left, she had yet to return, and now it was becoming rather scary. They didn't want to treat her as a missing Nin, to have to search for on mission and when they did find her, kill her. It was wrong and horrible; none of the Konoha twelve wanted that to happen. Some actually forgot that she existed at times. Not being there, they had to learn to adapt and work without her in their lives, and so most seemed to forget that she ever lived in Konoha, yet in the back of their mind, they she was still out there, searching and completing whatever personal task she had assigned her self to do.

Then, one day, a letter was sent, on a some what familiar bird. It soared high and low through the Konoha town until it got to the Hokage building and came face to face with the Hokage; Tsunade. Still the Hokage, Naruto and Sasuke moved up the ranks in shinobi and both became ANBU members along with Neji as Sai and Kakashi rejoined the ANBU without difficulty. Shikamaru was on the boarder line of jounin and ANBU as he was still undecided. Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Ino and Chouji had recently made it to the ranks of respected jounin, and while Ino's medical ninjutsu was becoming excellent, much like Tsunade's, there was a rumour going around that the girl had improved so much, there was an eternity of difference between the two, meaning that Ino was still not considered that great.

When this mysterious letter did arrive, it baffled and shocked everyone who read it, most were uncertain of what exactly the letter was about or who it was from, yet the writing style felt familiar, it was straight forward and to the point, which was enough to arouse suspicion among the Konoha shinobi, especially if they ever learnt of what it said.

"What does it say Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked.

"Don't worry about it" Tsunade murmured.

"Eh?"

"Shizune, get me Team Kakashi!" Tsunade ordered.

"Hai!" Shizune replied promptly.

--

"You called Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi asked as he peeked into the room to find the rest of his team already there with a look of irritation on their faces.

"Yea, I called, roughly three HOURS ago!!!" Tsunade boomed.

"Right, gomen" Kakashi sweatdropped.

"Why did you call us here Tsunade-baa-chan?" Naruto asked.

"…"Tsunade glared.

"Ignore the Dickless Tsunade-sama, what was it you called us for?" Sai smiled.

"Read this letter" Tsunade ordered as she showed them the scroll which held the letter.

'_Greetings Hokage-sama,_

_I presume you are most likely reading this at your desk with a pile of paperwork to be completed with ever faithful Shizune by your side, so I'll make this quick to keep everyone happy. Well, if you're not there, you'll probably be in the local sake house eh? I think the latter is out of the question though. You are probably confused on who I am, yet I know who you are. It's not all that much of a surprise is it? I mean I just give you this out of the blue must be pretty suspicious. I assure you I am not an enemy; I am an alliance if you consider me one._

_Right now, I am currently travelling through the Lightning Country and will reach Konoha in three days at five am, (I suggest that you call Kakashi earlier so he arrives on time) if you wish to learn who I am, wait for me on the top of the Hokage Building, that is where I will appear. Baffled? I would assume so. If you really don't consider me a threat, the only people you will have with you will be Team Kakashi, anyone else with you, including your faithful side kick Shizune, and I will take it as a direct insult and pass right over. That includes people hiding in the shadows, they won't escape my eyes. As a request, I really do hope you have Team Kakashi with you when I arrive. Now, I'm sure you would be baffled about the whole Lightning Country to Konoha in three days, I will let you know this much, I am an expert on speed if I do say myself. _

_Still don't know who I am? Well, we'll just have to wait and see won't we? _

_It was nice talking to you._

_Until next time,_

_Spring Blossom'_

"What the?" Kakashi muttered.

"This person…who is it?" Sai frowned.

"I don't have any clue; do you guys have any idea?" Tsunade asked.

"All I can tell you is that they know us, and it's most likely female" Sasuke frowned.

"That's all I got too" Tsunade frowned.

"What are you going to do?" Kakashi asked.

"Wait, why does this person want Team Kakashi to be there?" Naruto frowned.

"I don't know, but we may as well comply with this person's orders, they don't seem in the least threatening" Tsunade sighed.

"We'll see you in three days then" Kakashi smiled.

"I guess" Tsunade sighed.

--

A figure stood smirking as she glanced up at the big gates of Konoha. Her long pink hair blew in the morning breeze as her emerald eyes shimmered in the morning light. Standing on her once small bird, she looked down at the bird, admiring how much bigger he had gotten over the span of five years, and how much stronger she had gotten over those years. She was no longer a teenager, nor a kid. She was no longer the slightly brooding girl; she was the girl who now stood with more confidence in her stance and more of a bounce in her steps. Looking down her outfit, it seemed to change with her change in attitude as over the years, she found it was more comfortable and practical to wear the outfit she now had on her body.

It, to simply put it, was a white kimono with long sleeves and reached her mid thigh, underneath, she had black bike shorts which just passed the kimono which revealed a bit of her upper right thigh. The obi of the kimono was a pale red and tied around nicely on her back where a black circle was embedded, which was also on her right shoulder. Covering her hands were metal plated gloves which reached up to her upper arm, but no one would realize that unless she removed the kimono. Her Konoha headband was still placed on her left thigh and held a shuriken pouch while on her right thigh there was a holster which held her kunai. Underneath the kimono a fishnet black top could be seen and as per usual, there was a choker around her neck, this time while it remained black, in the centre, there was a white circle. On her feet were the traditional ninja sandals in black, just with metal plates on them. To say traditional suited her, would be perfectly accurate.

To say it suited her figure was an understatement to anyone who met her. She had definitely bloomed into that beautiful flower that her best friend at five promised her she would. The flower, that no one knew of yet, but would definitely be able to identify as the most gorgeous flower they had ever laid their eyes on/

Chuckling slightly, the girl covered her self with a long black cloak which covered her from head to toe with a hood and then placed a mask on her face, covering the emerald eyes that shone so brightly. Seemingly nodding to the bird she was on, they took to the skies **(A/N: How corny) **and began to fly towards the sun and the Hokage building, any later and the two really would be late for their appointment.

"Tadaima" the girl whispered to her self.

--

"Well surprisingly, even Kakashi is here on time" Tsunade remarked as they made their way up the stair case, which lead to the roof of the Hokage Building. As this person had requested, only Team Kakashi and her self stood on the Hokage Building looking for signs of this person as well as admiring the town of Konoha from above. The town was still quiet, but that's what you'd expect from a town which is still asleep, practically dormant. With no one else awake, they had completed this person's request, but, they all seemed to question how this person would be able to detect a person if they concealed their chakra and hid in the bushes or on the Hokage Mountain, it would be almost impossible to see anything, no matter where the person was.

Glancing up at the slightly misty sky, Tsunade assumed it was roughly five minutes to five, yet there were still no signs of this person. Glancing over, she seemed to smile as she casually observed Team Kakashi. It seemed the young ones grew into excellent shinobi; wearing the traditional ANBU garb, they stood strong and well guarded, waiting for this person to come.

"Perhaps you should remove your masks and just leave the cloaks on" Tsunade suggested, although it seemed more like an order as the four men complied with her suggestion and took off their masks to reveal their faces (except Kakashi who had his other mask on his face)

Minutes passed and it seemed this person was not showing as seconds ticked by with the clock hands reaching five o'clock.

Then the clock stroke five o'clock.

Glancing around cautiously, Team Kakashi and Tsunade kept their guard up waiting for this person to appear.

Suddenly a kunai landed in the centre of the Hokage building roof, landing ironically in the centre of the five. Jumping at the sound of the kunai hitting the ground, they glanced at the ninja tool before looking above towards the sky, where the Sun began rising into the morning sky. In the sky appeared to be a bird, and while it seemed small from so high above, if it got closer, any novice would be able to tell that it was dramatically huge for any bird. Instantly, the bird flew out of their gaze as another object began falling to the earth.

As seconds passed the five hitched their breath, watching this figure fall from the sky.

This was the person they were waiting for!

With a soft thud, the figure landed. Covered in a dark cloak from head to toe, the figure couldn't be accurately identified as they looked upon this mysterious figure. With the skill this person just displayed, they were obviously a shinobi, yet of what village? And who was this person? Looking towards their face, the Konoha shinobi stared and felt their stomachs sink as they stared at the person before them. They couldn't even identify this person, not only did they have a long cloak on, they had a black and red mask on that resembled something in a cross between several animals; a hawk, a fish, a dragon, a rabbit and on the forehead of the mask there was a white circle surrounding a cherry blossom.

"You…who are you?" Tsunade asked cautiously.

No answer. The wind blew, lifting the cloak slightly to reveal long creamy legs, presumably from a woman.

"You requested to meet us, why? What do you want with Team Kakashi?!" Tsunade yelled.

"Interesting, the entire of Team Kakashi seems to be in the ANBU" the person sneered, definitely female "Eh? Maybe this is a hint to the three members who left the village to gain power. Perhaps they didn't need to leave to gain power, and yet some how, the ones who remain seem to be the ones who obtain higher ranks of shinobi" the person commented.

"Who are you?! What do you mean?" Naruto shouted.

"Hmm? What a straight forward way to talk Naruto, you haven't changed one bit" the person chuckled.

"Who are you? Why do you know us so well?" Sai interrogated. Suddenly the bird from the sky landed behind the girl, settling to just sit and wait until the conversation was done.

"Oh? Sai, you seemed to have changed since last time, understanding emotions better now eh?" she remarked.

"Answer the question!" Sasuke and Kakashi bellowed.

"Well this certainly is different, having the quieter members of Team Kakashi yelling, what a treat. Say Kakashi, where is your novel you usually carry with you?" the girl questioned "It seems I'm still the shortest among us eh?" the female chuckled.

"What are you talking about? Who are you? How do you know us?" Naruto demanded.

"You know, although, I must say, while you guys have changed so much, it kinda hurts that you don't remember your own team mate" she sighed "I've only been gone for five years, haven't I, Sasuke? Just like I promised"

"You…" Naruto gasped.

"It can't…" Sai stared wide eyed.

"Could it…" Kakashi glanced in awe.

"You're…" Tsunade murmured, staring at the female with deep fascination.

"Haruno Sakura" Sasuke whispered.

"Eh? Spring Blossom? My, my, Guyver-kun, it seems they've figured it out" the girl seemed to giggle.

Suddenly a strong wind blew past, lifting the cloaks of Team Kakashi forcefully. Looking back at the figure, her hood seemed to remain on for a moment before she lifted her hands and removed the hood off her head and the mask off her face. Looking at the girl, their stomachs seemed to drop twenty metres below sea level with their hearts as their eyes bulged. It was indeed her. Her pink hair, still in the two buns she always had it in danced in the wind with the strands of hair that was left out like usual, the only change seemed to be that, her hair was not only in buns, but was also in ponytails hanging under the buns. Shining in the light, her hair was let free revealing she let her hair out to her mid back as it danced in the morning breeze, one could guess that she was producing it. Staring into her emerald pools, they found them selves drowning in the liveliness they emitted as the emerald orbs shined the morning sun. Yet, while her eyes seemed to smile brightly, her facial expression didn't seem to change as much as it remained almost completely impassive with only a small smile adorning her features.

"It's really you!" Naruto gasped.

"Ugly…" Sai murmured, staring at her.

"Sakura…" Kakashi gasped.

"You're back" Sasuke sighed with relief.

"Now I see why you wanted to see Team Kakashi" Tsunade nodded in understanding.

"Aa…Tadaima" Sakura whispered.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan" Naruto cried as he latched onto the girl, fearing that if he let go, she'd disappear as if she were a dream.

"I can't believe you're back" Kakashi smiled as he ruffled her hair.

"Ugly, you seem to have gotten uglier over the years" Sai sneered joining the hug, although inside, he knew he was just lying to himself.

"Same to you" Sakura chuckled.

"Sakura…" Sasuke murmured, catching the attention of everyone around them, and some how, they took it as the silent invitation to let go of the girl so she could face Sasuke properly.

"Sasuke…" Sakura muttered, staring at the male.

"I'm…I'm glad you're back" Sasuke smiled, latching onto her in a big hug.

"I'm sorry I left, but I kept my promise and I did what I had to do" Sakura whispered so only Sasuke could hear, hugging the male back.

"I was half losing hope that you would never return" Tsunade sighed.

"I promised you I would return, and now, I am ready to become part of the ANBU, if the position is still available" Sakura said as she separated from Sasuke.

"Arigato Sakura-chan" Tsunade cried as she enveloped the girl in a big hug not bothered at all that tears were leaking from her eyes "And yes, the position is still available, the head captain position though will have to wait"

"I wouldn't expect anything more" Sakura smiled letting go of Tsunade "But, wouldn't there be trouble since I left?"

"No I said to the elders that you went on a training mission" Tsunade winked.

"Arigato" Sakura whispered before turning to Guyver "Ne ne, Guyver-kun, do you want to stay?" Sakura asked approaching the bird.

"S-sakura-c-chan, t-that's Guyver?!" Naruto exclaimed. Turning towards the other shinobi, Sakura nodded, confused to why they were so baffled.

"He's huge!" Sai exclaimed.

"Really, I hadn't noticed after a while" Sakura shrugged.

"He used to ride on _your_ head, now you're riding on _him_ all together!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"What'd you expect? Guyver was just a young bird five years ago" Sakura said.

"Is this how you got here in three days from Lightning?" Kakashi asked.

"No I was on foot with Guyver flying ahead, I told you, I am pretty fast" Sakura smirked.

"Then who was the other bird?" Tsunade frowned.

"Oh, that was Jinki-kun, he followed me along sometime last year, much like Guyver, only smaller" Sakura grinned as the said bird came flapping down and landed on her shoulder.

"So why did you exactly leave?" Tsunade questioned.

"To seek some answers" Sakura answered _'I should probably tell them what I learnt about the Akatsuki, but I reckon that can wait until later, they shouldn't be here until two weeks since they were in Snow as last reported, according to Jinki-kun'_

"I'm so relieved that you're back" Tsunade smiled.

"Glad to be back" Sakura smiled.

"Sakura, may I talk to you for a moment?" Sasuke requested.

"Of course"

--

"I'm glad you're back, Sakura" Sasuke murmured as the two stood on the top of the Hokage Mountain, looking down on the slowly awaking town.

"I guess it's good to be back" Sakura said "There was something you wanted to talk to me about wasn't there?"

"Yea, look, I know you probably won't want to hear this…but…" Sasuke murmured.

"Nani?" Sakura glanced at the male, looking over his entire figure before something caught her eye.

"I'm…I'm…" Sasuke stammered.

"Engaged" Sakura finished.

"W-what?!" Sasuke gaped "H-how'd y-you know?!"

"Nothing passes over my eyes Sasuke" Sakura smiled forcefully.

"…Look I'm sorry about this…it's just that…"

"Don't worry about it Sasuke. I was gone so long; that you had to move on eventually didn't you? It doesn't matter anyway; the proclamation of love five years ago is meaningless now, I was foolish, and not experiencing the feeling that some one cared about me threw me off, it was just a silly little crush" Sakura declared, yet she felt if she was tearing apart on the inside as she lied to him.

"Sakura…"

"Well, I wish the best for you and your beloved, I hope I can meet her sooner or later, anyway, I should be going, the Haruno district probably needs a clean and fix up, so I better go and do that, other wise I may have to rent a room tonight" Sakura smiled as she turned and moved towards Guyver before a hand on her shoulder stopped her "Nani? Sasuke?" she asked.

"Are…you…okay with this?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course why wouldn't I be? The Uchiha clan can finally be restored…unless of course, you have been rather _busy_ lately" Sakura chuckled.

"Of course not…but…"

"When's the wedding?" Sakura asked, turning to face him.

"Kagaimi and I haven't decided on a date yet, we only recently got engaged" Sasuke explained. For a second, when Sasuke looked towards the girl, he could have sworn he saw her tense and her eyes seemed to glare before they went back to normal.

"I see, well; when you do decide on a date, please tell me, as a member of the Haruno clan, it would only be proper to attend a wedding of another noble clan, correct?" Sakura questioned.

"Aa" Sasuke nodded.

"Well, tell Tsunade-sama, that I will be at the Haruno district if she needs me" Sakura requested "Guyver-kun" Sakura said. Instantly the large bird flew towards the girl as she jumped into the air and landed perfectly on the bird.

"Sakura…" Sasuke muttered.

"Well, ja ne, Sasuke, Guyver-kun, let's go" Sakura waved as Guyver flew away from the Hokage faces.

--

"I'm such a baka" Sakura murmured as she clenched the fabric where her heart was.

--

Chapter 1: Reformation


	2. Reformation

Chapter 1: Reformation

**Summary: **She has returned. But there seems to be something she knows that they don't. Before it's too late she must tell them and save Konoha, at the same time, she must confront her heart, mind and soul about her feelings to a certain Uchiha. Simple enough right? What if it seemed every thing and one was against her? What would she do? Did her training for five years prepapre her for the future that is about to come? Sasusaku. Rated T for violence.

* * *

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Inner selves'**_

"Talking"

_FLASH BACK…_

P.O.V

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

* * *

"Uzamaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Sai, Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi, together, you as an ANBU squad are Team Kakashi" Tsunade announced to the five shinobi in front of them.

"Hai" Naruto nodded while the others just seemed to understand and remained quiet.

"Now for your first assignment, you will take a test" Tsunade smirked.

"A test?" Naruto questioned.

"Team Kakashi, for five years you have basically been disbanded, and without much contact, I assume you don't know much of your team mates strengths and weaknesses, now will be the time to experiment those through this test" Tsunade explained.

"What is the test?" Sai asked.

"The bell test, only this time, it will not only be Kakashi holding the bells, all of you will hold bells, and I'm sure you understand the rest" Tsunade stated.

"I see" Naruto nodded.

"When do we begin?" Sasuke asked.

"You will meet at the Forest of Death in two hours, be prepared, this will last for five days" Tsunade announced.

"Is there anything else?" Kakashi asked.

"You are allowed to use any method up your sleeves; after the five days, return to the central tower, I'm sure most of you remember it from the chuunin exams?" Tsunade smirked.

"Hai" Naruto and Sai nodded.

"May we leave to prepare?" Sakura asked quietly, making everyone jump from surprise. It was obvious they had forgotten that she was still there.

"Sakura-chan, please don't just say something out of the blue" Naruto whined.

"I didn't" Sakura stated "So may we leave?"

"Yea, but…" Tsunade began.

"But?" Sakura asked.

"Is it really necessary for you to be wearing that cloak? Aren't you hot in it?" Tsunade frowned.

"Nah, it's not that hot, well if that's all, I shall take my leave, I will see you in two hours" Sakura announced and in a matter of seconds she was out of their sight.

"Damn, she's fast" Sai muttered.

"Was it just me, or was there some tension in the air from Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned.

"I think it wasn't just you" Kakashi sighed glancing at the quiet Uchiha in the room.

* * *

"So you decide to finally show up?" Tsunade sighed.

"Gomen, gomen, I was helping a little boy with his homework" Kakashi lied.

"LIAR!!!" Naruto proclaimed.

"Yes, well…"

"Can we get on with it? If you weren't going to show up until two hours after the designated time slot, I wouldn't have come so early" Sakura sighed.

"Right, so you know the rules, here are your bells" Tsunade said as she handed the five two bells each "Now go to the gates I've assigned for you to use and once the gates open, enter" she ordered. With the order complete the five dispersed leaving a lonesome Sannin.

* * *

"Yosh! This won't be hard at all, first I go to Sasuke-teme and get his bell and I will move on from there!" Naruto proclaimed.

* * *

"This will be a piece of cake, they have no idea how strong I have gotten, the Dobe will be the best to attack first" Sasuke smirked evilly waiting for the gates to open.

* * *

"I guess this time, I will have to use the sharingan; if I don't want to fail too miserably" Kakashi sighed, putting away his novel "It won't be like when they were genins"

* * *

"I wonder who should I go for first; Pansy or Dickless? The other two can wait" Sai sneered.

* * *

"How nostalgic" Sakura muttered, looking up towards the sky "I wonder how strong they've gotten" _'Maybe I was the idiot for leaving and returning…'_

_FLASH BACK…_

_Finally after cleaning the Haruno district from top to tail, the blossom let a massive sigh of relief, knowing that the huge task she set upon her self was completed, with surprisingly little effort. Well, that's what you get when you have a kekkei genkai like hers. Realizing that all the district needed was a dust sweep and a bit of gardening, the girl set her kekkei genkai to work as she willed the weeds and untamed grass, plants and flowers back to their original state from five years ago; inside the house it was just a matter of using a little bit of her powers to will the wind to gently lift the dust particles through the house and out the entire district, which was completed in under a couple of hours, leaving the house spotless and almost shinning._

_Looking at the sky, the blossom assumed it was roughly five in the afternoon judging from the almost disappearing sun and that it was time to go find something to eat. Remembering that she had yet to go shopping for food, the female sighed in slight annoyance as she picked her self off her black bed and trudged out of the Haruno district to the centre of the town in search of food (after she left Guyver and Jinki with their own share of food ). Walking through the town, she came across something that appeased her growing hunger, and while she hadn't actually eaten at this restaurant before, judging from the blonde who was gobbling it down, it must be pretty good, it smelt pretty good._

_Walking into the Ichiraku Ramen hut, she took one of the stools and made her order._

"_One pork ramen please" she said, making the people in the store jump from the sudden noise._

"_Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed._

"_Hey Naruto" Sakura smiled._

"_What are you doing here?" Naruto asked dumbly._

"_What do you think? I'm getting some food" Sakura sighed in frustration._

"_You're actually eating ramen?!" Naruto exclaimed._

"_Why not? There's a first time for everything" Sakura stated._

"_Here you go; one pork ramen" the owner smiled._

"_Arigato" Sakura nodded as the bowl was placed in front of her and she reached her the chop sticks "Itadakimasu" Sakura whispered as she snapped the chop sticks in two and began eating the ramen in a very civilized and high up manner._

"_Woah, Sakura, you eat with such restraint!" Naruto exclaimed._

"_I'm surprised you even know that word" Sakura muttered quietly "When you come from a family like mine and have had the upbringing I've gone through, it just comes natural, and would be expected, much like in the Uchiha clan" Sakura explained._

"_Huh?" Naruto frowned._

'_From slightly smart to completely dumb' Sakura sighed "When I was younger, it was expected of me to act accordingly and eat properly, after all, I am basically a representative of my clan, and the Haruno clan was a very high up and noble clan" Sakura explained._

"_Oh, I see, so that's like Sasuke-teme's clan then?" Naruto asked._

"_I would assume so, but the Uchiha clan from what I remember is less slack on the manners and etiquette and tend to focus on the shinobi side of everything, either way, both clans were noble and strong clans, to be highly respected, so it was expected that they behave as such, the Hyuuga Clan would be like that too, so be careful" Sakura said, looking down at her reflection in the soup bowl._

"_You know, I think I'm kinda glad I wasn't born in a family like that, I don't think I would handle all those rules" Naruto chuckled._

"_When you've practiced such customs all you're life, it's kind of expected and comes naturally" Sakura said, continuing to eat her meal._

"_You know…" Naruto murmured._

"_Hmm? Nani?" Sakura questioned after she finished chewing on the noodles in her mouth._

"_I heard that Sasuke told you about being engaged" Naruto said._

"_And?" Sakura asked_

"_Are you really okay with that?" Naruto asked nervously._

"_Why wouldn't I be?" Sakura frowned._

"_I saw the note you left Sasuke five years ago…" Naruto muttered._

"_Oh that?" Sakura chuckled "It was just a little school girl crush, I'm long over it" she smiled._

"_Really? Are you sure you're okay?" Naruto asked hastily._

"_Yea, daijobou" Sakura reassured as she went back to eating her meal._

"_Are you really…" Naruto muttered. Naruto sat, waiting for her to finish the bite she was on._

"_Naruto, I know you're concerned, but I can assure you, I really am okay, and besides, even if I did still 'love him' as I proclaimed many years ago, I would be happy knowing that the one I love is happy even if I'm not the one to bring that happiness" Sakura smiled forcefully._

"_Sakura-chan…" Naruto murmured, admiring her._

"_Is it true…" a voice asked from behind them. Turning around, they two were faced with the remaining of Konoha twelve aside Sasuke._

"_Is what true?" Sakura asked._

"_You…you're…" Tenten gaped pointing at the pink haired kunoichi._

"_I'm?"_

"_Sakura-chan!" Ino squealed as she latched her self onto the slightly unsuspecting pink haired female._

"_I can't believe you're back!" Tenten cried as she and Hinata entered the some what hug between the two women._

"_Sakura-chan, my love! Have you considered my proposition to become my girlfriend?!" Lee exclaimed hopefully._

"_I'm sorry Lee, I would prefer it if we remained friends" Sakura replied 'Otou-sama would kill me for having a relationship with him (if he wasn't already dead)'_

"_So are you staying for good now?" Kiba asked._

"_Until the day I die" Sakura grinned slightly._

"_I glad" Chouji beamed._

"_I'm so happy that you're finally back!" Ino smiled._

"_Aa" Sakura nodded._

"_So I heard you're on the ANBU now" Neji smirked._

"_Yea, on Team Kakashi" Sakura replied._

"_We'll have to have a match some day" Neji suggested._

"_I'd be honored" Sakura nodded._

"_One miso ramen please" a voice ordered. Turning to their left, some how they weren't at all surprised to see Sasuke sitting next to them, next to Sakura._

"_Hai" the old man nodded as he went to work to make the ordered meal._

"_Sasuke-teme" Naruto glared._

"_Dobe" Sasuke sneered._

"_A-ano; is it me or is the tension in the air suddenly rising?" Hinata questioned as she sat on Naruto's lap._

"_No, it's definitely not just you" Tenten gulped as she took a step back into Neji's arms._

"_Err…Sasuke, Naruto, is there any reason you guys should be fighting?" Sakura sweatdropped._

"_He started it!" Naruto and Sasuke shouted in unison, pointing an accusing finger at each other._

"…_okay…since when have they learnt to argue in sync" Sakura sweatdropped "Well, I should be off" Sakura announced as she got up from her seat._

"_But what about your ramen?" Naruto exclaimed._

"_I'm finished" Sakura stated, pointing to her empty bowl._

"_Demo…" Ino whined._

"_Ahh…gomen, I really have to get going, Guyver-kun probably needs to be fed a bit more, I didn't leave him with much" Sakura said._

"_Sakura-chan…" Naruto murmured._

"_Daijobou" Sakura reassured "Ja ne" she waved, and before they knew it she was gone._

…_END FLASH BACK_

* * *

Suddenly all five gates flung open and in seconds Team Kakashi stormed into the Death Forest at their own pace, searching for their team mates they were against.

* * *

"Okay, now to find Sasuke-teme and beat him! I'll show him he ain't so great!" Naruto declared to himself.

* * *

"Hn, this should be easy" Sasuke smirked as he went in search of Naruto, who was ironically looking for him.

* * *

"I wonder where Dickless and Pansy will meet up" Sai pondered, heading into the unforgiving forest.

* * *

"Knowing those two, they'll aim to find each other, well, I'll just fight against who ever I come across next" Kakashi decided.

* * *

"How troublesome" Sakura grunted as she walked into the forest, not actually intending to get into a brawl with any of her team mates _'A fool proof plan, go to the centre tower and wait for them to come to me after they're all tired'_ Sakura smirked.

* * *

"Where is he?" Naruto muttered as he dashed through the forest, searching under nearly every rock and behind every tree.

* * *

"Interesting, the dobe hasn't shouted yet" Sasuke remarked.

* * *

"I wonder if they've met each other yet…" Sai wondered.

* * *

"It's still rather quiet, must mean none of them have come up against each other yet" Kakashi noticed.

* * *

"Let's see, Sasuke and Naruto are slowly heading towards each other and Sai and Kakashi are heading to each other, ironically, it seems they're all heading for a centre point to fight it out" Sakura stated, honing in on their chakra "Baka" she snickered as she made her way to the central tower after creating a couple of bunshins to act as decoys if they actually found her.

* * *

"Finally I found you!" Naruto smirked as he jumped in front of Sasuke.

"I'm surprised you could find me that easily" Sasuke sneered, moving himself into his fighting stance, in front of him was Naruto mimicking his action. In an instant, the two clashed with their shuriken before coming face to face with their kunai in hand. Dodging a punch from Naruto, Sasuke aimed to kick Naruto off his feet only to miss as Naruto jumped up and prepared to launch forward towards Sasuke with a punch, which was retaliated with his Katon jutsu. Barely dodging the fire technique, Naruto counted by throwing a barrage of shuriken towards Sasuke, which flew in all different directions, and failed to actually land a mark on Sasuke. Smirking at all the misses the blonde made, he began charging forward as the two began to fight in close combat, not seizing to break apart, in fear that they would end up looking cowardly.

"Aahh, this is getting boring" Naruto remarked as the two continued to battle it out, it seemed they forgot about the bell test all together.

"Hn, I would have to agree with you for once, dobe" Sasuke nodded. Instantly both pulled out their deadlier attacks, gathering their chakra to perform jutsus they could have been renowned for; the Chidori and the Rasengan.

"So, we're both thinking the same huh?" Naruto chuckled.

"Hn" Sasuke sneered before the tow made a made dash to the centre of the battle field before clashing with each other for a second before they were pulled apart but the force of the jutsus. Slightly roughed up, the two clashed, unaware of the two pairs of eyes that watched their every move, smirking as they wore each other out.

As hours passed, the two continued their brawl, completely lost in their own worlds, not even realizing how tired their bodies were. Suddenly, both Sai and Kakashi jumped from out of their hiding places and smirked, eyeing their bells.

"Looks like Pansy and Dickless forgot what they were here for" Sai commented.

"Urasai Sai-teme!" Naruto shouted.

"I know _I_ haven't forgotten, but I don't know about the dobe" Sasuke sneered.

"Still, couldn't you at least _aim_ to get each other's bells?" Kakashi sighed.

"Bells?" Naruto muttered "Oh yea!" Naruto exclaimed and then made a mad dash for Sasuke' bell, in hopes he could obtain it before Sai or Kakashi could get it.

"I don't think so dobe" Sasuke sneered as he kicked the Kyubi container away. In seconds, the four males were battling each other in an attempt to get each other's bells and claim victory; it had not once crossed their minds to where their pink haired team mate could possibly be.

* * *

"My god, it's been four days, I haven't seen a sign of _any_ of them" Sakura grunted as she lay bored on the ground, waiting for her team mates to show up so she could steal those bells away effortlessly. Suddenly a massive explosion erupted from the north of the canopy, alerting Sakura.

"I bet that's them" Sakura sighed _'May as well go and see what they're actually doing'_

* * *

This battle if you will had lasted long as each male was too prideful and arrogant to realize that four days had passed and despite their desire to rest and recover from their bountiful amount of wounds, they just couldn't give up, because that would mean that the other three would charge off them, thus leaving them at an advantage. It was quite obvious that all of them were on basically an equal level and that none were willing to give up (despite being sprawled across the battle field from the recent explosion which they all caused with their stronger attacks)

'_Eh? Looks like they've been battling it out for these past four days'_ Sakura realized as she remained hidden in the bushes near the battle field, her chakra masked and her body refrained from moving to avoid any sounds that would most likely be caused because of any careless movements _'Stupid egotistical males, if this was an ANBU mission, they would fail miserably'_ Sakura sighed as her hands discretely moved into a quick series of hand seals.

"Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu" Sakura whispered. Smirking to her self, as she watched the equivalent of imaginary leaves fall to the ground, the four males absolutely oblivious to that fact it was a genjutsu, not even Kakashi or Sasuke who had their sharingan activated at the time, but she could tell both were just putting it on for show and were about to give up at any minute.

* * *

Suddenly an ear piercing heart stopping shriek of utter pain erupted from the Forest. Alerted by the sudden shriek, the four males looked around for the source. There was one thing they all decided upon unanimously and mutually; despite never actually hearing such a shriek in their lives.

It was Sakura.

They just knew it.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped in fear. Suddenly a slowly a battered, bruised and bloodied pink haired girl camp trudging and limping out of the clearing, completely disheveled with various kunai poking out of her along with many other weapons, and not only that, a majority of her clothing was torn and tattered, leaving only the bare minimum covered.

"Minna-san! Save your self! Th-their c-coming!" Sakura gasped as she choked on blood was splattered across the ground before she her self collapsed onto the ground in a rough heap, breathing heavily.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried as he ran over to the girl while the other three sat on the forest ground completely shattered at the sight of their newly reunited team mate on the brink of death. As the other three made it over to the pink haired girl, a secret smirk played across her features as in a matter of seconds the genjutsu was dispelled to reveal the four males were standing around nothing but a log.

"W-who did that?!" Naruto shouted, pointing accusing finger to the other three males.

"It wasn't me!" Sasuke, Sai and Kakashi insisted in unison.

"I bet it was you!" Naruto growled, pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi, remembering he could perform a genjutsu similar to it.

"Why would I go over, if it was my own genjutsu?!" Kakashi frowned.

"Just to make it look like you weren't acting a little suspicious!" Naruto declared.

"You know, I think the dobe is one something" Sasuke glared.

"I have to agree with Pansy and Dickless for once" Sai remarked, standing up to face Kakashi.

"Ah hem!" a female coughed up from the top of the tree tops, smirking, yet obviously bored. In her right hand were four pairs of jingling bells.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, sighing in relief knowing she wasn't as injured as the genjutsu displayed she was, in fact, she wasn't in the least injured.

"Aah, geez, you guys forgot about me" Sakura sighed in fake disappointment.

"Then that means…" Sai mouthed.

"Yup, that's right" Sakura chuckled evilly.

"That genjutsu…" Sasuke continued.

"Was mine, I must say, I'm mighty proud I can get you guys with it still" Sakura smirked as she jumped off the tree and landed a fair distance away from them (just in case) "It seems you were still all caught in it" Sakura laughed "Just like last time"

"Last time?" Sai frowned.

"Aa, she got the dobe and Kakashi in the genjutsu when we were genins, only it was less gruesome" Sasuke explained.

_FLASH BACK…_

_At opposite ends of the training area, Sakura could see Sasuke, which both could see that Kakashi was toying with Naruto. Sakura, nodded to Sasuke, telling him to start the plan._

_Jumping forward slightly to get in range of Kakashi, Sakura began with the rat hand seal, and did the __Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu._

_A circle of leaves began tornado-ing around Kakashi and Naruto, it seemed some what normal. Suddenly horrific images of people in the town dying appeared in the training grounds leaving a shocked Kakashi and Naruto. It was about five minutes after the genjutsu began that Kakashi realized he was caught in the genjutsu and formed the seal of the tiger in his hands to undo the illusion._

"_Kai" He shouted._

_The genjutsu dispersed to reveal Sasuke and Sakura standing together each with a bell, high-fiving each other in their achievement. _

"_Well, I see you two got the bells" Kakashi smiled, a few seconds later, the alarm bell for lunch went off. "-And before lunch too, well done" Kakashi congratulated. Sasuke and Sakura nodded, moving over to the stumps and sat down._

…_END FLASH BACK_

"Well, now that I have gotten what I came for, ja!" Sakura grinned as she waved before she disappeared with the wind and a quick jingle of the bells she just collected.

"How did she catch me in that genjutsu again?!" Kakashi sulked.

"I say we ambush her and get our bells back!" Naruto growled.

"I agree" Sai nodded. With that, the four males were off, looking for their pink haired team mate.

* * *

"I can't believe I got them so easily" Sakura smirked as she traced her steps and returned to the foliage around the central tower _'May be they really haven't improved as much as I thought they would'_ Sakura remarked. Suddenly her eyes hardened. They were all after her; she just knew it, especially since she just heard Naruto screech in annoyance, presumably because he came across one of her clones and attacked it only to learn it was a bunshin.

"Well, I better keep my guard up" Sakura said before she disappeared and went deeper into the forest, knowing that they would predict that she would go to the tower, and decided to return to the tower with the most indirect route she could possibly come up with.

* * *

"Where is she?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"We've got twelve hours left and she's no where to be found" Sai sighed.

"Maybe she decided on taking a longer route back to the tower since she probably heard Dobe shouting and screeching like a five year old when we came across her water bunshin" Sasuke sneered.

"I was not screeching like a five year old!" Naruto glared.

"Sure you weren't" Sasuke sneered.

"Look, for now we have to work together and work as a team to get our bells back, let's go deeper into the forest, she probably went in to lose us" Kakashi suggested.

"Hai" Naruto nodded.

* * *

"Woah, this place brings back memories" Sakura muttered as she passed the collection of trees and field where she and Team Seven fought with Orochimaru and other sound nin. Going over to the tree were she was stabbed into, she ran her hand over the bark, reminiscing of when she was younger _'I was quite foolish back then'_ Sakura remarked before she let her hand fall to her side, to her kunai pouch, which was still hidden because of her black cloak.

"Ahh, how nostalgic" Sasuke smirked as he faced the girl, who's back was facing him. In an instant, the other three males had surrounded the girl with their weapons drawn.

"So you've teamed up" Sakura noted; switching her gaze back and forth to each shinobi surrounding her.

"Well, the exam was originally intended to encourage team work" Kakashi sneered.

"Aa" Sakura grunted, her bang covering her eyes "Well, I guess since it is four on one I should really go all out ne?"

"…" none of them made a motion to speak as they eyed the girl cautiously. Suddenly a smirk adorned her features.

In seconds she had created four bunshins with each facing her four opponents while she stood in the middle. Each clone had a vicious smirk plastered that refused to disappear. In sync the four clones each moved their hands in a quick series of hand seals which were covered by the black cloaks they wore before they each brought out two long double headed katanas.

"Elemental Jutsu: Katon: subeta Yoshi. Suiton: subeta Fuka!" Sakura shouted as the blades became a lite with two different elements. Yoshi became a lite with fire, which continued to burn all around the both side of the katana while Fuka blended in with water before the water froze and became ice as the ice continued to move like water. Throwing them expertly in the air, she performed another set of hand seals, still concealed from sharingan eyes before she caught the blades and disappeared. In seconds, the other four clones mimicked the pink haired female's action and disappeared as their opponents were getting slashed up to pieces without a single trace of a blade or a person to commit those horridly deep slashes and slices. As the technique drew to a close, the four males were left similar to what her genjutsu displayed of her self previously.

"T-that…j-jutsu!" Kakashi gasped.

"Correct" Sakura nodded "The silent kill, you wanted me to go all out didn't you, I don't use that technique for just any one" Sakura remarked as she put her katanas back in their scabbards, making sure not to make any jingles to indicate where the bells were.

"Where did those blades come from?" Sai asked as she began healing all four males at once, truly a miracle.

"I summoned them, any Haruno, good or bad knows how to summon their blades- each member is given blades fit to their mental and physical strengths" Sakura explained.

"Wait, don't medics usually have to heal people one at a time?" Kakashi gasped as he felt his wounds from before closing and healing.

"I wasn't doing nothing for the past few years, this is only a small nick in the surface of my medical abilities" Sakura said, slightly boastfully.

"Sugoi Sakura-chan" Naruto exclaimed joyfully.

"Aa" Sakura grunted as she stood up and began to walk away.

"C-chotto matte! Sakura-chan! Where are you going?!" Naruto shouted as he stumbled to his feet and ran after the girl.

"Where else? Five days is almost up" Sakura said and in a second she was gone.

'_I don't know if it was me, but I can't help but feel that she attacked me the hardest…and didn't heal me the best'_ Sasuke remarked as he looked over his team mates who were replenished while he still had a few bruises and scratches left. Noticing that the others began moving, he also began to move and started a slightly mad dash towards the central tower.

* * *

"Welcome Team…Ka…ka…shi?" Tsunade gaped. In front of her was the entire of team Kakashi, slightly battered, but nothing serious, Tsunade was kind of expecting half dead zombies to be walking into the tower that she'd have to heal. Further more, Sakura wasn't even injured, if Anko saw this she'd spit out her dango and choke to death, the only other person who managed that was Gaara and that was almost _ten_ years ago.

"What the hell happened here?!" Tsunade exclaimed "I was expected you all to be half way to your deaths!" Tsunade exclaimed with Shizune nodding in the back ground furiously.

"Sakura-chan healed us" Naruto explained.

"Then why aren't you in bit's in pieces Sakura-chan?!" Tsunade questioned.

"I didn't per say enter the battle" Sakura sweatdropped.

"Then you lost?" Tsunade asked.

"No, well bell wise, I guess I won" Sakura shrugged carelessly as she brought out the four pairs of bells plus her own. Tsunade gaped.

"H-how d-did you do it?" Shizune stammered.

"Genjutsu" Sakura explained.

"Genjutsu?" Tsunade questioned.

"Yup. Genjutsu" Sakura smirked.

"You got them with genjutsu while you had two sharingan users against you?" Tsunade gasped.

"Yup" Sakura nodded carelessly.

"And you didn't technically fight?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, I did, but not for long compared to these four" Sakura replied.

"H-how?" Shizune gaped.

"A kunoichi never reveals her tricks to the trade" Sakura winked.

"Sakura-chan" Naruto sniffled.

"Nani?" Sakura frowned.

"I still can't believe you got me with that genjutsu, AGAIN!!!" Kakashi cried.

"I can" Sakura smirked "I mean, I do specialize in genjutsu out of all ninja arts"

"Beaten twice! I feel so robbed" Kakashi sulked.

"Well, is there anything you want us for?" Sakura asked.

"No not really, you can make your way back on your own" Tsunade grinned.

"Gotcha" Sakura nodded and in a flash, she was gone.

"Damn, that's some speed" Sai cursed.

* * *

"Well, I hope you're all rested and relaxed from the week off, because now you five are going to get back into system and start on another mission" Tsunade smirked facing Team Kakashi who stood in front of her "Although, Sakura, that mask of yours is going to have to go, it will act as a temporary mask until you get one to replace it" Tsunade ordered.

"Hai, hai" Sakura shrugged, waving the subject off, obviously she wasn't interested in it.

"What's our mission Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi asked; sweat dropping at Sakura's careless behaviour.

"In two days, you will meet up with the prince of the Lightning Country and you will escort him from here to the Lightning Country. Currently he is resting in the hotel opposite this building which is under high surveillance with his son-"

'_So that's what that big fuss was about this morning'_ Sakura twitched.

"-and daughter and after he is finished with business here, you will leave. Please note, that the Lightning Country is considered to become a very important alliance, so I trust you won't do anything to anger the client. That means you three in particular, Naruto, Sasuke, Sai! On the way to the Lightning Country you will make a stop at the Wave Country as the Prince wishes to see something in the Wave Country" Tsunade slightly glared.

"W-what?! Why am I always accused of 'making the client unhappy'?!" Naruto exclaimed angrily.

"Hush Naruto" Sakura sighed, patting his shoulder trying to calm him down.

"That's easy for you to say, you weren't accused of angering the client constantly" Naruto scoffed.

"That's because the client usually angers me, not the other way around" Sakura sighed "May I leave?"

"Hai" Tsunade nodded "meet your team in two days at the North Pier" Tsunade ordered.

"Hai" Sakura nodded, walking calmly out of the office.

* * *

As the pink haired kunoichi walked out of the Hokage Building she suddenly had the wind knocked out of her as a figure suddenly zoomed right passed her, ignoring her presence all together. This person, had long black hair, tied in two pony tails with pink ribbons and crystal clear blue eyes. It seemed she was a shinobi as she had a kunai holster on her right leg and another pouch on her left hip. She wore a bright pink halter neck top over a white tank top with a short white skirt over a lightly brighter pink skirt which had a white 'K' on it and black bike shorts which had ribbons on the end of them. On her arms were light pink arm warmers, similar to Sasuke's old ones only these had ribbons instead of the normal buckle tie up. On her feet were the traditional ninja sandals in a red colour which ironically had bows on the ankles. Around her neck was a small silver chain; and another pink ribbon tied around her neck.

'_Can you get anymore pinker? Or any more bows?!'_ Sakura exclaimed when she saw the…girl?

"Sasuke-kun!!!" the girl squealed.

'_Fangirl? No, I've seen her some where before'_ Sakura noticed as her eyes hardened slightly.

"Oh, Kagaimi-chan, you're here" Kakashi smiled as he opened the door.

'_Kagaimi?'_ Sakura questioned before inwardly glaring at the girl.

"Oh, Sakura-chan, you're still here?" Naruto questioned from inside the room.

"Aa, well any way, ja" Sakura waved.

"Matte, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.

"Hmm?"

"This…this…is…" Naruto stuttered.

"My fiancé" Sasuke said as the girl came towards him and latched onto his arm happily.

"I see, well I bestow my congratulations upon the two of you and hope that you find your happiness with each other for as long as you each desire" Sakura smiled fakely, slightly scaring people in the room as she congratulated them in such an odd way.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, who's this?" Kagaimi asked.

"This is my team mate, Haruno Sakura" Sasuke explained.

"Eh? _This_ is_the _Haruno Sakura?!" Kagaimi exclaimed fakely.

"Yes, the one and only" Sakura smiled.

"Well, I think I can already see a friendship forming" Kagaimi giggled, extended her hand for the pink haired kunoichi to shake.

"I do to" Sakura lied, shaking the offered hand "I would say, a very interesting friendship to say the least" Sakura smiled, gagging inwardly.

"Well, I really must apologize Kagaimi-san, I really must be going, I have to prepare for the upcoming mission, it was nice to formally meet you" Sakura waved _'Not'_ she added inwardly "Ja"

"Yes, it was nice to meet you Sakura-_chan_" Kagaimi giggled, waving to her childishly, expressing fake happiness form Sasuke's arm.

"Ne ne, Sasuke-kun she seems nice" Kagaimi said.

"Aa" Sasuke replied, looking at the back of the retreating kunoichi. Looking down at his fiancé, Sasuke told her to go ahead of him as he wanted to take a walk. In understanding (it seemed) Kagaimi nodded before walking away.

* * *

"Sakura" Sasuke glared as he faced her back, which was upright, poised and as straight as possible as the girl sat, watching the world pass by from the tops of the trees.

"Nani?" Sakura questioned, not even bothering to open her eyes and turn around to look at him, almost sneering at him "What'd I do this time to get you glaring at me?"

"If you would bestow congratulations onto me and my to-be-wife could you at least do it less fakely?" Sasuke growled.

"I have no clue of what you mean, I did what any member of the Haruno clan would do, I assure you, it's only proper the representative of the Haruno clan bestow their congratulations to the to-be-head of the noble Uchiha clan, no?" Sakura questioned.

"Then say it like you mean it! Or are you just jealous that I have found some one and that some isn't you?!" Sasuke shouted.

"I'm sorry if there was a misunderstanding between the communication but I whole heartedly meant what I said, and on the issue of me being jealous of your to-be-wife, I'm sorry but you have your facts rather messed up. I am not jealous, I'm sure that I told you before, I harbor no feelings towards you more than a friend" Sakura replied.

"Then, if you really do, treat me as equally as you do to the rest of our team" Sasuke demanded.

"I do" Sakura said.

"Then how come when we were in the Forest of Death you didn't heal me completely?! Like you did with others?!" Sasuke growled.

"If you took a moment to notice, I did not heal other completely either! Naruto still had slightly open cuts around his hands and stomach, Kakashi; his sharingan couldn't even be activated! And Sai couldn't muster up any real chakra! Don't think for one second, that I would do something so lowly! I'm not that pathetic to hate some one and hold a grudge after a long gone school girl crush! So, please don't think so highly of your self!" Sakura growled, slapping him on the face. Sasuke stood shocked. She had never slapped him or raised her voice at him! They'd never even fought that viciously over_anything_!

"Consider your self lucky I put your revenge in front of my own life! Maybe next time I come across your brother I should just kill him my self!" Sakura growled before she began jumping off the tree branches and ran away from the quiet Uchiha.

* * *

"I see you guys have finally arrived" Sakura glared.

"Hehe…gomen Sakura-chan" Naruto sweatdropped.

"Yea, Dickless wanted ramen before we left, so we sat there watching him eat for the past three hours" Sai explained.

"It wasn't _that_ long!" Naruto whined.

"Look, I don't care, let's just get this over and done with" Sakura muttered "Where is the client?" Sakura asked.

"…" no answer.

"Let me guess, you forgot to go greet them before coming here?" Sakura sighed in frustration.

"Well…" Kakashi sweatdropped.

"I got it, I'll go get them" Sakura sighed as she began walking away and towards the hotel Tsunade said they would be in.

"We better follow her" Kakashi suggested as he began following the pink haired kunoichi who was clad in her black cloak.

* * *

Looking in front of her, Sakura saw a train of carriages waiting outside the said hotel as three rather rich looking people stepped out of the hotel and made their way towards the carriage that they would sit in for the remainder of the journey. One female and two males, one small male, roughly at the age of five or six and the other rather tall, presumably around the age of twenty to thirty, and the girl looked roughly half his age. They must be their clients.

Picking up her pace, Sakura made her way to the trio.

"Ouji-sama of the Lightning Country I presume?" Sakura questioned as she extended her hand for him to shake.

"You are correct, I presume you are one of the Konoha shinobi who will be escorting us" the prince smiled.

"You couldn't be any more correct, Haruno Sakura at your service" Sakura smiled forcefully as she removed her mask and shook her client's hand. The Prince of sorts had blonde hair with hints of brown and orange running through it and bright blue eyes. Many would call him a god, almost as good looking as Sasuke, yet Sakura was unaffected as she looked upon the man.

"You may call me Ryou Akio" the blonde smirked seductively, kissing the girl's hand. Suddenly there was a loud shout. Turning around, they found an angry Naruto pointing an accusing finger with a slightly ticked off Kakashi, Sai and Sasuke.

"You!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Gomen Ryou-sama for my team mate's behaviour, but I'm sure it will settle down as the mission continues" Sakura assured, her hand still in the man's grasp.

"Oh, its okay Sakura-chan, may I call you Sakura-chan?" Akio asked "You may call me Akio-kun" he insisted before kissing her hand again.

"Gomen, but I don't believe it would be ethical and correct to be calling each other by such familiar terms, let's keep our relationship on a professional level" Sakura insisted as she pulled her hand away from his grasp with a simple self defence action, making him yelp in pain; at that second it seemed her team mates began cheering inwardly.

"Ohayou gozaimasu Ouji-sama" Kakashi smiled "I am Hatake Kakashi and the team Captain for this mission" Kakashi introduced, pushing Sakura aside.

"Kakashi-san a pleasure to meet you" Akio grinned.

"These are my team mates, Sai, Uzamaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, whom you have already met" Kakashi said as he pointed to each respectively. Instantly there was a high pitched squeal erupting from the area as the other female latched onto Sasuke's arm (who sighed in irritation). The girl had long blonde hair tied into two ponytails wearing a shinobi attire similar to Kagaimi's only it was a purple colour, matching her mysterious purple eyes.

"It's nice to meet you all, this is my daughter Ryou Mimi and my son Ryou Ichirou" Akio said.

"Ohayou Sasuke-san" Mimi squealed in delight. Looking down, they waited for the youngest son to say something, but soon they realized he wasn't going to say anything as his gaze was fixated on an oblivious blossom. His hair was a darker blonde than his sister's or father's and he had blue eyes but darker than his father's.

"Well, let's get going then" Kakashi suggested. Nodding in understanding, the carriages moved as the pink haired kunoichi began walking with the front of the carriages.

"Yes, let's I want to get to wave as soon as we can" Akio nodded "Oh, Kakashi-san, can I make a request?"

"Yes, what is it?" Kakashi asked, realizing the other males were also listening in on the conversation.

"Can Sakura-chan sit with me in the carriage?" Akio pleaded.

"Err…you'd have to ask her" Kakashi sweatdropped, refusing to actually give an answer.

"Sakura-chan!!! Matte!" Akio shouted, causing all the carriages to stop along with the said woman. Turning around, Sakura back tracked and went up to the client.

"Nani?" she asked.

"Can you please sit with me in the carriage?" Akio begged.

"Gomen, but I would prefer to walk, and besides, judging from that carriage of yours it would only seat three people comfortably-"

"Otou-sama, can I walk with Sasuke-kun?" Mimi pleaded.

"May she?" Akio asked.

"Sure thing" Kakashi smiled.

"Well, now there's an empty place, would you care to sit in our carriage?" Akio asked.

"No, I don't believe it would be proper for me to do so as the shinobi you hired" Sakura answered and began walking away, passing through the North gate entrance of Konoha with the other carriages.

"Kakashi-san" Akio whined "Can you make her sit with me?!"

"Err…Sakura…" Kakashi sighed.

"Please sit with Ouji-sama for the duration of the mission?" Kakashi ordered, yet also half asked.

"Fine, but I will sit on top of the carriage, it is less troublesome if enemies attack" Sakura bargained.

"Ouji-sama is that alright?" Kakashi asked nervously.

"Better than nothing" Akio shrugged; delighted he would be closer to the kunoichi.

'_What a player!'_ Naruto glared.

'_Ugly is getting more attention than she used to…'_

'_How dare you sit on top of the carriage!'_ Sasuke glared _'What about this thing on my ARM?!'_

'_This will be a long mission'_ Kakashi sighed.

'_This will be a very long mission; I can just feel it…'_ Sakura grunted as she hoped on the top of the carriage and sat cross legged and stared forward _'I wonder if the carriage will break under my weight?'_ Sakura idly wondered remembering that she increased the weights she was wearing the night before.

* * *

"Oh, hey Jinki-kun" Sakura smiled as they smaller hawk landed on her head "Where's Guyver-kun?" Sakura asked looking into the bird's eyes.

"I see, thank you" Sakura nodded before the bird flew off, everyone around her oblivious to the conversation that just took place. Remaining in her place, Sakura glanced around; counting the number of people she was able to spot.

"_Kakashi, there are people around us about to ambush, ten people"_ Sakura muttered into the head piece.

"_I see; did the rest of you hear that?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_Hai" _Naruto nodded.

"_Take two each?"_ Sai asked.

"_I think one of us should take Sasuke's share, he has to protect the girl"_ Sakura suggested.

"_No I will be fine"_ Sasuke seemed to glare at the girl.

"_Who are you talking to Sasuke-san?"_ Mimi asked.

"_Hn"_ Sasuke grunted.

"_I'm just saying Sasuke, it'd be safer for the girl"_ Sakura shrugged _"But if you want to be like that, then fine by me"_

"_Hn"_

"_Oi, Sai-teme, Kakashi, is it me or is there a sudden amount of tension and coldness in the air, despite us being in the middle of a desert, and speaking of which, Sakura-chan why are you wearing a black cloak with a hood in the middle of the desert? Aren't you hot?" _Naruto asked.

"_Not really, it's actually quite cool where I am"_ Sakura replied.

"_That's because you aren't walking and consuming energy"_ Sasuke sneered.

"_You want to swap places?" _Sakura glared.

"_You want to experience a girl's clinginess?!" _Sasuke challenged.

"_No- shit!"_ Sakura cursed.

"_What happened Sakura?"_ Kakashi frowned.

"_AMBUSH! They're all on my side!"_ Sakura explained as the sound of some one screaming came from the back ground.

"Sakura-chan! Help!" Akio shouted.

"_Hai!" _Sakura nodded before switching off the two-way.

"_We better go help"_ Sai said.

"_I'm sure she could handle her self just fine"_ Sasuke grunted to him self.

* * *

"Fine, if you won't give us the older one, we'll take the younger one!" the black clad man proclaimed as he dove towards the young boy.

"I don't think so!" Sakura glared as she also made the dash to the boy, collecting him before the other man could.

"Ha! You've left your self open to an attack and now we can talk the older man!" another chuckled.

"You wish!" Sakura growled as held onto the boy tightly, causing him to blush slightly and began to move towards the men who were aiming to take the prince away.

"Close your eyes little one" Sakura ordered as she created ten clones of her self and ordered them to attack; quickly the clones began stabbing and kicking the men away from Akio, leaving Sakura standing still, not having to lift a finger at all.

"You bitch!" one of the men growled.

"Tch!" Sakura scoffed as she disappeared from sight for a second, all ten shinobi began flying away from the carriages for a good few metres.

"You-" one of the men gasped.

"Don't move" Sakura ordered. In front of each of them was a kunai made of water ready to knock them dead, her clones disappearing a long time ago.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped as the four males arrived at the battle scene with Mimi behind them.

'_Lucky little brat'_ her team mates hissed inwardly as they glared at the young boy in Sakura's hold (he was right under her breasts).

"Ha! These are just made out of water! Water can't kill us!" one of the men proclaimed.

"Well see" Sakura muttered as she placed the young boy onto the ground "Go to your father" she ordered. Complying with her order, the little one dashed towards his father and hid behind his legs.

'_Let's see…1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; 10'_ Sakura counted _'Good they're all here'_ "I'll take care of these guys, you guys keep going on ahead" Sakura declared.

"Hai!" Kakashi nodded, collecting the carriages together and requesting Akio and his son to go into the carriage before they all slipped away.

"Oi get back here!" one of the men growled attempting to stand up.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you" Sakura said, moving her gaze to the roots that had wrapped around they're limps.

"Why you!" they growled.

"I really didn't want to do this" Sakura sighed. In seconds the enemy shinobi lay dead with blood pouring out of their body mercilessly.

"That's really a shame, you guys could have become great shinobi; you're all so young" Sakura noted. Suddenly a huge shadow was cast over Sakura, looking up, Sakura smirked.

* * *

"Gee, you guys didn't get far did you?" Sakura questioned from above their heads. Looking up, they all seemed to gape as Sakura came towards them on a huge bird.

"Well, you didn't really take your time did you?" Sai sneered.

"Not really" Sakura shrugged.

"What did you do to them?" Kakashi asked.

"Left Jinki-kun to deal with them" Sakura answered.

"Isn't Jinki your other bird?" Naruto asked.

"Yes" Sakura nodded.

"Then how?" Sasuke asked.

"Jinki-kun _is my_ bird after all" Sakura smirked. All the four males of Team Kakashi could do was shudder.

"I see" they quietly all muttered.

* * *

"…why is she continually staring and glaring at me?" Sakura muttered, glancing at the blonde haired girl who refused to take her eyes off her since the incident with the (presumable) rouge shinobi. Sitting on Guyver as he glided across the desert, Sakura couldn't help but twitch.

"You" Mimi glared.

"Who?" Naruto asked.

"Her!" Mimi shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards Sakura causing everyone to pause in what they were doing.

"Me?" Sakura frowned.

"Yes you! What are you to Sasuke-san?!" Mimi glared. Suddenly, Naruto and Sai began sneering at Sasuke who was glaring back at them. **(A/N: Scene © to Bleach TM episode 145-146 or at least somewhere around there) **

"Sasuke and I are team mates and friends" Sakura replied monotonously.

"Yea right! How can you say you're just that if you just called him Sasuke with such familiarity?! Not even _I_ call him such familiarity and_ I_ am the _Princess_ of the Lightning Country!" Mimi glared.

"Do the words _team mate_ and _friend_ ring any bells?" Sakura sighed.

"So? Some one as low class as you couldn't possibly be associated with some one of the Uchiha clan!" Mimi proclaimed.

"What do you want me to call him then eh? Uchiha-_dono_?!" Sakura challenged.

"I think it would be more appropriate" Mimi sneered.

"Sorry, I don't belittle myself into calling some one who is of the same ranking of higher respect" Sakura scoffed.

"Otou-sama!!!" Mimi whined.

"Sakura-san, I would appreciate it if you did call him by what my daughter has requested for the rest of this mission" Akio ordered.

"Fine…" Sakura muttered through gritted teeth _'I will just not speak with him'_ Sakura added mentally as Guyver flew higher slightly giving Sakura a better view of their location _'Stupid fangirl, should I mention that he was a fiancé?'_ Sakura wondered for a moment_'Nah'_

* * *

"We're almost reaching the Wave Country Ouji-sama, is there a place where you wish to stay?" Kakashi asked.

"No, we'll just put up our tents outside the Country" Akio replied.

"Hai" Kakashi nodded.

* * *

"Man, it feels like ages since I've been here" Naruto proclaimed as they walked into the village they visited on their first mission as genins.

"Dobe, it _has_ been ages since we've been here" Sasuke sighed.

"Well, we better help them set up, after that; we have to assign shifts to guard this place, two people at a time" Kakashi explained.

"Kakashi, can I not have the first couple of shifts?" Sakura requested.

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

"Yea, why Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, the other two males also paying attention.

"I have been requested to go to the Mizukage and take a look at his sick son and to fix up some business that I left unfinished here" Sakura sweatdropped showing the letter explaining the girl's absence.

"When did you receive this?" Kakashi questioned.

"Recently" Sakura answered.

"Well, go ahead" Kakashi nodded. Nodding in slight thanks, Sakura left the four males to set up the camp on their own.

"C-chotto matte!" a boy's voice exclaimed, stopping the girl from leaving. Turning around, Sakura came face to face with Ichirou.

"Hmm, nani?" Sakura asked as she bent down to the boy's level, leaning on one knee.

"Can I come with you Onee-sama?" Ichirou asked.

"Gomen, maybe next time" Sakura smiled, standing back up and began walking away before she was pulled back by a tug on her cloak.

"Onee-sama!!" Ichirou cried "Otou-sama, Onee-sama won't let me go with her!!" the boy wailed loudly.

"Demo, Ichirou-kun, your Onee-chan isn't going anywhere" Akio frowned.

"Not her! Sakura-onee-sama!" Ichirou sniffled before exploding into tears again.

"You don't want to go with that trash Ichi-chan" Mimi insisted.

"I do, I do!" Ichirou insisted.

"What have you done to my Otouto you witch?!" Mimi exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Ichirou-chan, but this time you can't go with me, maybe next time" Sakura said.

"Don't call him with such familiarity!" Mimi shouted.

"Onegai, Onee-sama, let me go with you!!" Ichirou pleaded.

"Could you please Sakura-chan?" Akio asked.

"…" Sakura chose to remain silent for a second before she answered "I am going to see the Mizukage, I don't think he would appreciate it if I brought along company while healing" Sakura explained.

"Come on, it could help the alliance between Konoha and Lightning" Akio insisted.

"…Fine" Sakura sighed, knowing if she declined, Tsunade would learn immediately and have her head "Come on Ichirou-chan" Sakura said, offering her hand for him to take.

"Arigato Onee-sama!" Ichirou cheered as he latched onto the girl before they left.

"How could you let Ichi-chan go with that trash?!" Mimi exclaimed.

"Just so you know, Mimi-san, Sakura is part of the Haruno Clan, a highly respected clan in Konoha" Kakashi said.

"So? She should know where she stands!" Mimi glared.

"Be quiet would you?! Stop trying to belittle our team mate in front of us! She is a highly respected shinobi in Konoha, and I don't think many would like to become allies with a country who undermine and disrespect their shinobi" Sasuke glared.

"Sasuke-san" Mimi gasped.

"Seriously, don't be so rude to Sakura-chan, she's really a nice person" Naruto insisted.

"Besides…" Sai muttered.

"Besides what?" Mimi growled.

"I'm engaged" Sasuke stated, showing her the ring on his finger.

"Sasuke-san! How could you?! Baka!" Mimi cried before she began to run away from the camp site.

"Ahh…Mimi-chan!" Akio exclaimed as he watched her run, attempting to run before he was stopped by Kakashi.

"Let her have some alone time for a moment" Kakashi said.

"Aa; sorry about that Sasuke-san" Akio apologized.

"Aa" Sasuke nodded.

* * *

Mimi continued running through the Wave Country, not even caring to where her feet brought her.

Her heart hurt.

Suddenly she tripped on her own two feet.

'_Why did he have to be engaged?'_ Mimi cried "BAKA!!" she shouted picking her self up from the ground.

"Look here, a little cutie left on her own" a man remarked. Looking up, Mimi's eyes widened in fear when she realized she was alone and two men who looked drunk were in front of here.

"Hey cutie, why don't you come home with us?" the other chuckled.

"N-no" she stammered.

"What was that?" one of them growled.

"I-I s-said no!" Mimi shouted.

"Looks like a bit of a stubborn girl" the man remarked.

"Well, we'll just have to knock some sense into her won't we?"

"Hehe, I know you too well"

Instantly they were both on the girl, knocking her against the fence opposite them.

"Now, will you go with us?"

"I-I-"

"Like hell she will!"

* * *

'_That girl, getting her self into trouble'_ Sakura sighed, clutching Ichirou tightly so he wouldn't give away their position.

"Onee-chan" he whispered.

"Stay behind me Ichirou-chan" Sakura whispered as the two began walking towards the two men who were about to basically rape the blonde haired girl.

"Now, will you go with us?" one of them sneered.

"I-I-"

"Like hell she will!" Sakura glared.

"S-Sakura-s-san" Mimi stuttered.

"Who, looks like you have a friend"

"Tch" Sakura scoffed. Grabbing a hold of the young boy, she dashed forward and kicked both men away from the captive girl and stood in front of her, defending her.

"You're pretty feisty, I like that"

"Me too"

"Get lost" Sakura glared as she gave them both chakra infused punches, sending them far away. Straightening her posture she let go of the younger boy and let him run to his sister, not bothering to turn her back and face her.

"Y-you…w-why are y-you helping me?" Mimi asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"You're my charge along with the rest of your family, it would be improper to allow you to get raped just because you were rude to me" Sakura replied "Come on, I'm already late visiting the Mizukage"

"C-chotto m-matte! Shouldn't you have gone to the Mizukage first?!" Mimi exclaimed.

"My mission comes before other requests" Sakura replied "Now hurry up, I don't have all day" Sakura ordered.

"H-hai!" Mimi and Ichirou nodded as they begun chasing after the pink haired kunoichi.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late Mizukage-sama" Sakura bowed as she entered the room where the said Mizukage was sitting next to a bed where his son was laying, breathing heavily.

"It's okay" the Mizukage nodded.

"Let me see your son" Sakura ordered as she moved towards the bed and began to examine the male, who was just younger than her.

'_I see, got hit by poison'_ Sakura noticed "Mizukage-sama, has your son been in contact with any poisons lately?" Sakura asked.

"He recently came back from a mission and hasn't recovered since" he answered.

"I see" Sakura nodded in understanding before getting into her work. Performing one hand seal, her hand began glowing a bright red as it moved over the boy's body, extracting purple liquid with ease without disrupting the boy's sleep. In minutes, all the poison seemed to be extracted and in the palm of her hand. Performing another seal, her hand began glowing a bright blue as the poison liquid began turning a clear green colour which seemed to swish around in the palm of her hand. Getting out several syringes with her free hand, she began sucking up the liquid in doses of five millilitres before her the glow of her hand changed to a green colour changing the liquid to a thick yellow colour.

"There that should do it" Sakura smiled handing the Mizukage three of the five syringes.

"That's it?" the Mizukage gaped.

"Yea, but you will have to give your son one of these doses every twenty four hours, preferably not injected into the blood stream and just consumed. Just mix it in with this tea- " Sakura said as she handed the man three tea bags from her pouch "-and he should be fine with in the next three days" Sakura prescribed.

"You serious? My medic nins couldn't find a solution to his condition!" the Mizukage gaped.

"Yes, well, yes that's all it was probably hard since the poison seemed to be attracted to various parts of the body where normal poison couldn't enter unless very strong, using that antidote should build up his immune system and prevent this from happening again, just tell your son when he wakes up that he should avoid any plants that look suspicious when looking for food and when being attacked with kunai, make sure you recognise that some weapons will have poison on them, some poisons can end up very deadly" Sakura advised.

"I will; arigato for your time" the Mizukage smiled.

"It was no problem, I better be taking these two back to camp now" Sakura bowed "Ja ne"

"Who are they?" the Mizukage asked.

"Mizukage-sama, meet the Lightning Country's Prince's son and daughter, Ryou Ichirou and Ryou Mimi" Sakura introduced as the two bowed.

"I see, you better get them back quickly then" the Mizukage advised.

"I know, ja" Sakura waved, guiding the two out of the Mizukage mansion.

* * *

"Thank goodness, you're back!" Akio exclaimed as he brought his son and daughter into a big hug "Are you alright Mimi-chan?"

"Hai. I'm good Otou-sama, thanks to Sakura-san" Mimi smiled.

"Thank you Sakura-chan" Akio smiled gratefullly.

"It was nothing" Sakura nodded before she walked away, letting them enjoy their family time _'Pity my family was never like that'_ Sakura muttered to her self.

"So how did it go with the Mizukage?" Kakashi asked.

"Yea, it was fine, his son is all good again. Just a simple poison case" Sakura answered.

"I see, well then can you start your shift yet?" Sasuke asked, obviously ticked off she had left them to guard the place.

"Y-"

"Sakura-nee-chan!" a boy shouted. Turning around, they were confronted with an older looking Inari and behind him was a girl, who also looked familiar, to Sakura anyway.

"Onee-chama" the girl shouted.

"Oh hey Inari!" Naruto waved.

"Who are you?" Inari and the girl asked.

"What do you mean who am I? I'm Uzamaki Naruto!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Oh you!" Inari exclaimed.

"Come on Sakura-nee-chan! I want to show you how much better I've gotten!" Inari exclaimed.

"Me too Onee-chama, I've become a kunoichi just like you!" the girl cheered as both latched onto the Haruno female and attempted to drag her away but failed.

"Hold on! I'm on a mission here!" Sakura sighed.

"Onegai" they both pleaded.

"…Kakashi?" Sakura sighed.  
"No you-" Kakashi gasped as he looked at the pleading eyes of the young kids "-Fine you can go-"

"Demo, Kakashi-sensei! How come she doesn't have to guard these people?!" Naruto whined.

"Gomen Naruto, I'll be back as soon as I can" Sakura shouted from a distance as she was pulled through the Wave Country.

"How come Sakura-chan is so popular among everyone?" Naruto whined.

"It's just how it turned out" Sasuke sighed.

* * *

"Well done you two, but I have to go now" Sakura said and before the two could even argue, she was gone.

* * *

"I've missed you guys" Sakura murmured, looking down off the hill where Zabuza and Haku were buried. Placing the bouquet of cherry blossom flowers on both graves, Sakura said a final silent prayer before leaving.

'_I hope you both enjoy heaven as much as my parents probably do'_ Sakura whispered.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been?!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"Watching little kids train" Sakura shrugged _'Visiting graves'_

"Well, now that _all_ of your business is finished, can you guard _now_?!" Naruto and Sasuke seethed.

"Yea, whatever" Sakura muttered as she walked away from the group and towards her assigned post.

* * *

"I wonder what happened to Sakura-chan" Naruto whispered to Kakashi, Sasuke and Sai who were all watching (from a safe distance where they assumed Sakura couldn't see or sense them) Sakura stand at her post with eyes closed, supposedly guarding the area.

"Maybe she's finally losing it after being associated with Dickless and Pansy for so long" Sai sneered.

"Urasai Sai-teme!" Naruto glared hitting him across the head.

"Quiet dobe, she'll hear you" Sasuke hushed. Suddenly a bundle of brown feathers landed on the girl's shoulder before she looked to the bird, her body tensed and she jumped up, landing on Guyver's back.

"Where's she going?" Naruto questioned. Only able to watch from the ground they saw her stand on top of the flying Guyver before he came towards the earth at extreme speeds towards the edge of the camp, behind her was Jinki with what appeared to be kunai coming out of his wings which were shot towards the camp where screams were erupting from.

"What the?" Sai muttered.

"Come, we better go check it out" Kakashi said.

* * *

"Everyone get back inside!" Sakura ordered as she knelt down on Guyver and stabbed the shinobi who came in front of Guyver. Understanding her orders, the people from the Lightning Country hustled as they all grouped inside many of the tents which were protected from one of Sakura's jutsus. Jumping off Guyver who was a few metres in the air, Sakura landed a punch on one of the men, and a kick each to two others who attempted to save their comrade. Surrounding her was roughly twenty shinobi.

"Jinki go get Kakashi and the rest!" Sakura ordered.

"No need, we're already here" Kakashi announced as they all kicked an enemy shinobi away.

"Is it me or are these people getting attacked more than the usual leaders who get escorted?" Sai questioned.

"Of course they are-" Sakura grunted as she jumped up and slammed her foot down on the shinobi she was versing face "-with all these carriages full of god knows what it is normal that rogue ninjas would be attracted, there's no way this amount of carriages would go unnoticed" Sakura cursed as she punched another shinobi. Suddenly there was a pained screech coming from the side of the battle.

Sakura paused and turned around before she stiffened.

Guyver and Jinki were both inured, badly.

'_Guyver-kun, Jinki-kun'_ Sakura muttered, staring at them for a moment before she snapped out of reverie and began charging towards the shinobi that surrounded the two birds. Sakura glared hard. In an instant she was in front of the two injured birds and glared even harder at the rouge shinobi. In seconds, the men were pummeled to an almost certain death, however it seems Sakura had yet to move a muscle.

"Sakura yamatte!" Kakashi shouted.

"Ugly stop it; he's becoming even uglier than you!" Sai urged.

"Sakura-chan stop!" Naruto ordered.

"Sakura, yamatte!" Sasuke shouted. That brought her out of anger as she paused in mid action and looked at what she had done. Realizing what she had done against these shinobi; Sakura stopped attacking the helpless shinobi and went over to Guyver and Jinki. Performing a quick set of hand seals, a shield formed over the two hawks that glowed a bright white, lighting up the dark night. As seconds passed the bloodied birds were bloodied no more as their wounds completely healed. Ending the jutsu the shield seemed to dispel as her hands fell limp to her side and she collapsed to the ground in front of the recovering birds.

"Gomen nasai Guyver-kun, Jinki-kun" Sakura muttered as she gave them both blood replenishment pills.

"Sakura-chan…"Naruto muttered bringing his hand to touch her shoulder.

"Gomen Naruto, but, I would appreciate it if you guys would leave for a moment" Sakura muttered quietly.

"Hai" they all nodded before the left the girl to recover, taking the decapitated bodies away from the scene in body bags.

"I've turned into a monster I never wanted to be, all because I saw you two injured" Sakura muttered "Gomen nasai Guyver-kun, Jinki-kun, I shouldn't have done that to these shinobi" Taking off her mask, Sakura's expression seemed very dark and depressed as she looked into the eyes of her birds. As a moment passed quiet reigned supreme over the three before Sakura's eyes widened in understanding.

"I see, well it'd be quite foolish for me to cry over such a thing no? I'm quite foolish aren't I?" Sakura chuckled bitterly as she was dragged over to Guyver by Jinki. Moving in silence the three managed to huddle up together under the starlight sky, enjoying the silent comfort each other was providing with Sakura leaning on the sleeping Guyver as she slept with Jinki on her lap who was also sleeping.

* * *

"It seems it all worked out with Ugly" Sai remarked looking over at the sleeping blossom and birds who were basically in the middle of no where and pretty far away form the camp.

"I don't think I have ever seen Sakura-chan that angry in battle" Naruto commented.

'_I have'_ Sasuke added to himself.

_FLASH BACK…_

"_What do you know? Like I would ever destroy something that means a lot to me" Sakura glared._

"_Look at us, we did" Hikari smirked._

"_W-what are you talking about?!" Sakura exclaimed._

"_I'm sure you remember the Haruno massacre; that was all our doing" Daiki smirked._

"_W-what?!" Sakura gasped, leaving her self open for a second, but that was all they Akatsuki needed to charge at her, hitting her across the battle field. _

"_Those men you killed, they were our accomplices, of course, it was us that told them how to destroy the clan" Hikari smirked._

"_W-why? Why would you kill your own family?!" Sakura exclaimed._

"_Because, we were testing how strong the clan was, and obviously it wasn't very strong" Daiki sneered "You see, we saw how they all acted every day, so Hikari and I thought it would be fun to see them suffer. It just happened on that date that we had planned to do everything, we had a mission. It was pretty convenient if you ask me" Daiki cackled._

"_Just to test how strong the clan was?!" Sakura shouted angrily, blocking the incoming attack of Tobi and Deidara._

"_Oh, and to test how strong you were, to see if you were really worth all the fuss the elders put on you" Hikari sneered._

"_You…you…I HATE YOU!!!" Sakura snarled as her chakra levels began rising immensely, much like Naruto when he gets angered and his Kyubi power is released._

"_Finally! It's coming out!" Hikari chuckled watching the amazing levels of chakra emit off the girl. Suddenly there was a massive explosion as weapons of all sorts flew everywhere, hitting all the Akatsuki except Itachi, and left Sasuke unharmed who was staring wide eyed at how much her chakra had increased by._

"_You will die!" Sakura exclaimed as she performed another water jutsu. Jutsu after jutsu came and hit the members, especially her older brother and sister continuously._

…_END FLASH BACK_

"Yea, she's not really one to loose her temper so easily, it's not like her to cry over spilt milk" Kakashi nodded.

"Maybe the thought of her birds injured caused it" Sai suggested.

"I hope she's okay" Naruto sighed.

"Maybe Pansy should go and talk to her and see if she's alright" Sai suggested.

"Why me?" Sasuke snarled.

"Yea, why him? Shouldn't it be all of us?" Naruto frowned.

"Because I reckon she likes Pansy better" Sai said "Or at least used to" Sai sneered.

"Shut up Sai, she likes us all equally, as _friends_" Sasuke glared.

"Either way, if we ambush her at once, she'll probably bolt, remember, she was like that when we were younger" Sai said.

_FLASH BACK…_

"_Tch, they never told me what it was" Sakura muttered darkly, not noticing that people were in the room with her._

"_Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned._

"_Who never told you what it was?" Sasuke questioned._

"_What was it?" Sai questioned._

"_Nani?" Sakura muttered, her hand still cradling her forehead._

"_Sakura-chan what's wrong?" Naruto asked._

"_Where am I?" Sakura asked._

"_You're on the way to the Snow Country, we are traveling by buses now" Kakashi answered._

"_I see" Sakura muttered._

"_Sakura, what was with your jutsu when we fought those Snow shinobi?" Sasuke questioned._

"_What do you mean?" Sakura answered._

"_When you created one of your jutsu, the first water jutsu, it should have missed and hit me, but it didn't and followed the guy you were versing" Kakashi explained._

"_And the water froze into ice when it caught the guys" Sai added._

"_And you took my jutsu and added it to your water dragon jutsu, and you took Kakashi's jutsu to freeze them, and the lightning came out of no where, what was up with all that?" Sasuke interrogated._

"_I have no idea" Sakura muttered as she looked at her twitching hands._

"_You have to have some idea of what it was or you wouldn't have been able to do it Sakura-chan" Naruto frowned._

"_I'm serious, I have no idea who I did" Sakura said._

"_How can you not know what you did?" Sai scoffed._

"_I don't know" Sakura frowned._

"_It was your jutsu how can you not know when it looked like you knew what you were doing?" Sasuke scowled._

"_Because I don't!" Sakura glared._

"_Sakura, seriously just tell us how you did it" Kakashi sighed._

"_For the love of Kami-sama! I told you already! I have no idea how or why I took you jutsus, heck, I didn't even realize I did it until the fire was added to the dragon and the other water dragon appeared out of no where! If you don't believe me; that's your own decision" Sakura growled before she stood up and walked away from the males, and bare footed. The sound of a door slamming erupted, and their guess was that Sakura had jumped out of the moving vehicle to be alone. _

…_END FLASH BACK_

"Oh right" Naruto sweatdropped "Well, then, go on Sasuke-teme!" Naruto urged, pushing the Uchiha in the direction of the sleeping blossom.

* * *

Glancing down at the sleeping blossom, Sasuke sighed; releasing the tension he felt in his body and shook the girl awake.

"Oi Sakura, wake up" Sasuke ordered gently. Instantly the girl was brought out of her sleep and faced Sasuke with question.

"Nani? Do you want me to watch?" Sakura asked, rubbing her slightly tired eyes, being carefully not to wake up Guyver or Jinki.

"No, the dobe and that were wondering if you were okay" Sasuke said.

"Oh, yea I'm fine" Sakura nodded sitting up to look at him properly.

"Anyway, the rest wants you over there, it's safer" Sasuke said then walked away towards Naruto, Sai and Kakashi.

"Hai" Sakura muttered "Hey, Guyver-kun, Jinki-kun we've been asked to go over to the others" Sakura whispered as the birds slowly arose from sleep, nodded and followed the girl to the campsite before falling back into sleep. Following her birds example, Sakura lay out the sleeping bag Kakashi just gave her and fell asleep next to the already sleeping hawks.

_DREAM SEQUENCE…_

_Happiness…_

_Joy…_

_Smiles…_

_Laughter…_

_Enjoyment…_

_Life…_

_Pause._

_Screams…_

_Blood…_

_Limbs…_

_Torture…_

_Death…_

_March 28__th__…_

_Once a day which was full of life…_

_Is now a day of death…_

…_A young girl, no more than five, screamed. Before her were her parents' bodies, as well as the rest of her clan bodies. Well what remained of them. _

_She watched the demise of her parents and her clan, while she was held captive and could do nothing. The only ones alive now were, her onee-sama and onii-sama, and that's only because they were both out on missions._

* * *

_Today was supposed to be of joy, of happiness, yet some how it all ended in misery and suffering. Today was the young girl's birthday. She had officially just turned five, and yet she felt no reason to celebrate it. As night fell, a group of rouge ninjas ambushed into the Haruno district, taking everyone who was there, which for some reason was the entire clan, captive in the main house, where a party was supposed to be held. This clan, it wasn't supposed to be captured so easily, it is a prestigious clan, one of great power, and yet, some how, they were captured, main and branch members alike. Each person tied up like cattle about to get slaughtered; each with a blind fold, except one little girl. _

_Each member was slaughtered, heads chopped off, arms sawed off, legs pulled off. Blood was spilt. Floors, walls, ceilings were caked in the thick, sticky, red substance. All of which, the young girl at the age of five, stood tied up witness to the brutal massacre. The finale was about to arise. Up straight were the young girl's parents, the leaders of the clan. Both stripped of their clothes, and hands bound behind their backs. The girl watched as her own parents; who were also blind folded; were whipped, slashed, bashed, kicked, stabbed; they were tortured; possibly for the secrets of the clan, yet they said nothing. The girl's mother was kicked down and raped before her eyes. Her father was beaten more. Blood poured over the rich floors, splattered onto the decorative walls, leaked into the tiniest of crevices; it was every where._

_The more the young girl watched; the more she wanted to turn her head, and yet; she couldn't. She was forced, be it she wanted to or not, to watch the torturing of her parents._

_Before her parents demise, the end of their torturing, they spoke._

"_Tell Daiki and Hikari we love them" the women spoke _

"_However you, Sakura, you, that's a different matter. You are a disgrace to this family, you should have saved us, and yet you didn't. Being bound is no excuse" the man hollered._

"_If you become as good as Daiki and Hikari in your training, we will forgive you" her father spoke sternly._

"_Hai Otou-sama" the girl, Sakura, murmured._

_At that final note from her parents the girl watched as her parents' life was ended with a stab to the heart and then a slice off a head. More blood was spilt, staining the young cherry blossom, splattering more family blood over the main house room. The bodies, like the others, fell limp and crashed onto the ground below. Both heads, rolled towards Sakura, both looking up to her, as if to say, "You were always a failure"_

_The girl fell to the ground, in shock. Her parents, her clan, friends, family, the people closest to her, all killed. A great clan, a strong clan, killed by rogue ninjas. No tears fell from the girl; she was in far too much shock to cry. _

_Betrayal…_

"_I'm sure you remember the Haruno massacre; that was all our doing" Daiki smirked._

"_W-what?!" Sakura gasped, leaving her self open for a second, but that was all they Akatsuki needed to charge at her, hitting her across the battle field. _

"_W-why? Why would you kill your own family?!" Sakura exclaimed._

"… _testing how strong the clan was…" Daiki sneered _

"_Just to test how strong the clan was?!" Sakura shouted angrily, blocking the incoming attack of Tobi and Deidara._

"_Oh, and to test how strong you were, to see if you were really worth all the fuss the elders put on you" Hikari sneered._

"_You…you…I HATE YOU!!!" Sakura snarled._

"_You will die!" Sakura exclaimed._

_Blood. Screams. Arms. Legs. They all seemed to be drawn to the girl, haunting her as they continued to move_

_Slowly the ninja stalked their way closer to the young girl, in an attempt to get rid of her as well. That or kidnap her. Step by step the men came closer; shadows covering their face, black outfits covering their bodies. _

_As they advance, the girl sat still, still recovering from shock. Step by step, inch by inch, each second the men were getting closer and closer._

_A kunai was brought down and stabbed the girl right through the heart, blood pouring every where._

…_END DREAM SEQUENCE_

Sakura gasped as she bolted out from her sleep in shock. Breathing heavily, she felt a nervous sweat trickle down her neck as her hand clenched around the blanket of the sleeping bag. Looking around, Sakura breathed an inward sigh of relief.

'_Just a dream'_ Sakura mouthed.

"You alright Sakura?" Sasuke asked; it seemed he was the one left on guard. As she was about to reply, her figure tensed and her gaze turned to the left before going to the right.

"Sakura?" Sasuke questioned. In seconds she brought out a hand full of kunai and shuriken in each hand before throwing them left and right. As the weapons seemed to stop, blood began pouring and pained screams erupted from around them.

"Sasuke wake up the others" Sakura ordered as she jumped from her sleeping bag and landed on Guyver who was ready to begin fighting the enemy, like Jinki. Flying into the sky, Sakura began shooting balls of fire out of no where towards the hidden shinobi; standing almost motionless, it seemed she was firing these balls of fire with her eyes, as opposed to how she used to with her hands. As if her mind was guiding them.

"Kai!" Sakura exclaimed as roughly sixty shinobi appeared around the camp site of the Lightning people.

"Oi, Dobe, Kakashi, Sai, wake up" Sasuke hissed, kicking them out of their sleep.

"Nani?" Naruto growled.

"We're being attacked" Sasuke said before he disappeared, presumably to fend off the enemy shinobi.

* * *

"This is ridiculous! There's more shinobi than last time! What do these people carry that's so valuable?!" Naruto exclaimed punching down one of the shinobi that were heading towards him "Oi Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he created numerous clones and sent the ten shinobi in front of him towards Sakura with a good kick.

"Gotcha" Sakura muttered as she jumped off Guyver with her bunshins, landed on the ground, back flipped and kicked them to the right where Sai was "Oi Sai, catch" Sakura shouted.

"Can't take care of things on your own Ugly?" Sai sneered punching the shinobi up towards Sasuke after creating a few clones "Oi Pansy, heads"

"Hn" Sasuke glared obviously not liking the 'Pansy' nickname. Kneeling of the ground for a moment he created four clones before they all disappeared and reappeared above the shinobi in mid air and kicked them down "Shishi Rendan" Sasuke shouted sending them down to the ground where Kakashi was standing "Oi Kakashi, have fun" Sasuke smirked.

"Geez, leaving me with the dirty work" Kakashi sighed as he side stepped, created a couple of clones and side kicked the shinobi far away from the camp.

"Hehe, it's been a while since we've done that move" Naruto remarked as his clones dispersed and began fighting with the shinobi.

"Well duh, Dickless" Sai sneered.

'_This is getting ridiculous'_ Sakura grunted. Suddenly shrieks of pain erupted as the enemies fell to a bloody pile, dead.

"S-Sakura-chan, what did you do?" Naruto gaped as he paused in mid action when he was about to punch the living daylights out of the shinobi at his feet.

"Nothing really, just a technique a learned when I was travelling" Sakura replied.

"Who taught you it?" Kakashi gaped "You didn't even move your hands!"

"I did, only would be able to do it with my kekkei genkai" Sakura replied fixing up her cloak which had shifted to the side during the battle.

'_That's a slightly sadistic'_ the males of Team Kakashi shuddered slightly watching her move towards her hawks.

"We must really stick out or something that last was basically triple the amount from about six hours ago" Naruto sighed suddenly the blossom paused in mid step.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Kakashi, what was the time difference between the first and second attacks?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm…roughly twelve hours, why?" Kakashi asked.

'_It can't be…'_ Sakura gasped.

"What?" Sai frowned.

"No, it's nothing" Sakura grunted _'I'm just imagining it, there's no way they could do that in three hours…'_

"I think we should get moving" Sakura suggested.

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

"Move while it's dark, less people would be likely to attack" Sakura replied _'This is just incase my theory is right'_

"I guess you're right, I'll go wake up Ouji-sama" Kakashi nodded.

* * *

Glancing around at her team mates for a moment, Sakura paused before she closed her eyes in what appeared to be in deep thought before she opened them again and looked around at her surroundings, looking obviously pleased with her self. Enjoying the silence of the rolling carriages and clonking of hooves of horses on desert ground Sakura sat watching the scenery changed before some one broke her out of her peace.

"_Sakura?"_ Sasuke muttered.

"_Hai?"_ Sakura replied.

'_Why did you just set up your genjutsu and a shield?"_ Sasuke asked.

"_You set up a shield?" _Sai and Naruto asked in unison, obviously unaware.

"_So why did you Sakura?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_A precaution"_ Sakura replied.

"_There's no sense in putting something up unless you believe it's absolutely necessary, but I don't think it would be since even you said less people would attack at night" _Kakashi stated.

"…"

"_Is there any reason for you to believe that you need to set up such precautions?"_Kakashi asked.

"_No, not really, I just thought it would be safer"_ Sakura replied.

"_You sure?"_ Sai asked.

"_Positive"_ Sakura nodded _'I mean for once, I shouldn't be right, no one is always right…I mean who would be able to summon over 50 000 men in less than five hours from now?'_

* * *

'_DAMNIT!!!!! Why do I have to be right all the time?!'_ Sakura cursed as she began killing another round of shinobi. The amount of shinobi seemed to multiply by four of the previous amount which was three hours before.

"_How come there is so many shinobi attacking us_?" Naruto exclaimed.

"_Sakura do you know?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_I have a theory"_ Sakura muttered.

"_And is this theory been correct?"_ Kakashi asked.

"…"

"_Well Sakura?"_ Sasuke asked.

"_Hmm…"_ Sakura murmured _'Let's see, fire this time, let's make 'em tick like time bombs'_ Sakura smirked wickedly. Suddenly explosions exploded all over the battle field as the men they were fighting fell limp with blood pouring out of their heads; their faces not actually recognizable.

"_Sakura, what did you just do?"_ Kakashi gaped.

"_Just another technique I developed"_ Sakura replied.

"_Just how many more of these techniques do you have?"_ Sai asked.

"_Does it matter, I got the job done"_ Sakura scoffed.

"_Yes it does! Now we'll have to wait for the next attack to come before we get any answers"_ Kakashi sighed.

'_You won't have to wait long then'_ Sakura murmured inwardly _"Those men who attacked us; they were from the Lightning Country"_ Sakura said.

"_How do you know Sakura-chan?"_ Naruto asked.

"_One of the men had a Lightning Country Symbol on his vest"_ Sakura replied.

"_Sakura what is this theory of yours?"_ Sasuke asked.

"…"

"_Sakura?"_

"…"

"_Sakura-chan?"_

"…"

"_Ugly you there?"_

"_Hmm…oh, yea I'm here, just thinking"_ Sakura replied quietly.

"_So what about this theory?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_Well…"_

"_Out with it Sakura" _Sasuke demanded.

"…_The theory is wrong, I miss calculated something"_ Sakura replied.

"_Sakura you __**never**__ miss calculate __**anything**__" _Sasuke pointed out.

"_Umm…right…anyway, Sasuke, just out of curiousity, when is your wedding?"_ Sakura asked.

"_Undecided"_

"_It means teme and the other haven't decided on a date yet"_ Naruto said.

"_Well no shit Naruto"_ Sakura sighed _"Do you have a rough idea of when a date would be set?"_

"_No, why?"_ Sasuke asked.

"_I need it so I can plan ahead" _Sakura replied.

"_Oh right…"_ Sasuke muttered.

"_As if Pansy is going to decide a date, he's too much of a pansy to decide"_ Sai sneered.

"_Yes, well when you do decide please tell me"_ Sakura said, ignoring the rest of the conversation as Sai, Sasuke and Naruto argued. Sakura smirked.

'_Given a topic, those three can argue on it for hours; Haruno Sakura, expert topic changer'_ Sakura smirked.

"_What are you smirking about Sakura?"_ Kakashi asked.

'_Damn you Kakashi'_ Sakura glared _"How would you know if I was smirking or not? There is a mask over my face and I'm __**in front**__ of you"_ Sakura asked.

"_I can just feel it"_ Kakashi said.

"…"

"_So Sakura, why were you smirking?" _Sasuke asked.

"_No reason in particular, Kakashi, you wouldn't by chance know the time would you?" _Sakura asked.

"_Hmm…I'd say about twenty one and a half hours since we left Konoha, why?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_Just wondering"_ Sakura replied _'Almost time'_

Before the rest of her team mates knew what was going on, Sakura jumped onto Guyver.

"_Something wrong Sakura?"_

"_Carriages are uncomfortable to sit on for a long period of time"_ Sakura replied _"Oi guys! Ambush! There are well over 1000 people here!"_ Sakura exclaimed before Guyver flew forward towards the army of shinobi.

"_Sakura, what do you mean ambush?!"_ Kakashi shouted into the ear piece.

"_What do you think it means?"_ Sakura growled back _'Yet this doesn't seem like a lot compared to what's going to come if I am right. Mizu!'_ Sakura decided. Instantly a drop of water formed in front of the pink haired black cloaked girl before it disappeared into thin air.

"_3, 2, 1"_ Sakura whispered. Suddenly blood was pouring out of dead bodies from their heads. The location where blood was pouring out was a tiny hole n both side of their heads; the size of a water drop.

"_Sakura"_ Kakashi muttered.

"_Nani?" _Sakura asked calmly.

"_Can you, I don't know, __**stop**__ killing everyone that comes our way?!"_ Kakashi sighed.

"_Then you deal with 7200 men in forty five minutes"_ Sakura fired back.

"_What do you mean?!"_ Kakashi shouted.

"_I was wrong about my theory being wrong"_ Sakura sighed.

"_What was your theory?" _Sasuke asked.

"_To put it simply every time an attack came, the next would be in half the time with multiple times the amount of men, the amount would depend on the hours times by the previous amount"_ Sakura said.

"_Why didn't you say something? We could have asked Konoha to send us some men!"_Kakashi growled.

"_Because if I was right in less than an hour we would have been ambushed by over 50 000 men! Do blame me that the theory sounded so ludicrous!"_ Sakura glared.

"_That'd be impossible!" _Sai said.

"_How the hell can anyone gather up over 50 000 men in less than an hour?!" _Naruto shouted.

"_Exactly, that's why I didn't believe my own theory!" _Sakura muttered.

"_How the hell were you able to count that number of people in such a short amount of time?!"_ Naruto exclaimed.

"_I was quick, besides its simple math"_ Sakura replied.

"_How are you sure of it?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_Think about it, our first encounter had only ten people, the next was twelve hours away with twenty people, that next one was six hours after the last with sixty people, if there's any pattern going on here, it's that the next attack the sixth attack will be six times the amount of the last in half the time, which means these shinobi we've been facing aren't just rouge ninjas, they've been hired to attack in this pattern"_ Sakura explained.

"_Damn! Your brain is working faster than before!"_ Sai exclaimed.

"_Well, if Sakura is right, we need a plan to get us through it" _Kakashi concluded.

"_Well, we'll just have to get back up and use clones as well"_ Sasuke said

"_Right, it's all we can do"_ Sai nodded.

"_We are outside Wave, from Konoha that takes at least a days travel at a fast speed; we only have an hour_" Sakura said.

"…_well, we'll just have to hold them off until then"_ Kakashi said.

"_No, I'll go back and gather help"_ Sakura concluded.

"_You can't we have to keep you here!"_ Kakashi insisted.

"_But…"_

"_No. Send Jinki to fetch them and hopefully they'll be here soon"_ Kakashi ordered.

"_Hai"_ Sakura muttered _"Jinki-kun, take this note to Tsunade-sama, Guyver-kun you follow!"_ Sakura ordered.

"_Why'd you send Guyver?"_ Kakashi frowned.

"_Jinki doesn't know who Tsunade is"_ Sakura replied _"At least not by face"_

"_Oh"_ Kakashi mouthed.

"_Oi, Sai; Sasuke do you guys know the 'Kage Bunshin' technique?"_ Sakura asked.

"_Of course we do"_ Sai scoffed.

"_Just checking"_ Sakura nodded.

"_Be prepared guys"_ Kakashi ordered.

* * *

"_Damn Sakura-chan! Why do always have to be so accurate? And RIGHT?!"_ Naruto exclaimed as he created a clone and performed the 'Rasengan' on roughly twenty people.

"_Do you think I always want to be right?"_ Sakura growled standing still as she continued to fire various elements at the enemies surrounding her, not even lifting a muscle to attack.

"_I really wish for once, you wouldn't be correct"_ Sai sighed.

"_Me too"_ Sasuke and Kakashi said in unison.

"_Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu"_ Sakura muttered.

"_Mizu?! Chotto matte, Sakura, there's no water_!" Kakashi exclaimed turning to face her, only to gape when he saw ten clones made of water in front of his eyes.

"_Suiryudan no Jutsu"_ Sakura exclaimed as dragons of water came out of no where and began thrashing at the enemies knocking them away, picking them up and sending them else where.

"_Sugoi Sakura-chan! How'd you do that?"_ Naruto exclaimed performing a wind jutsu on the enemy in front of him.

"_Not now Naruto"_ Sakura cursed as she suddenly came back to back with Sasuke who were both surrounded.

"Well, hello Sasuke" Sakura grunted.

"Hn"

Jumping in the air in unison, both performed the exact same hand seals before bringing a hand to their mouths.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu" the two shouted in unison. In seconds, flames exploded on the scene, wiping out a good portion of their enemies. Glancing to the side, both kicked an enemy which was about to hit them down into the blaze before glancing at each other for a second and removing each other from their presence.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu" Sasuke shouted, spitting flames out of his mouth burning his enemies that came in front of the technique before slicing them with the hidden shuriken.

"Hyouton: Haryu Moko" Sakura shouted as an ice dragon, similar to the Suiryudan no Jutsu dragon freezing her enemies into a cold death.

Landing back to back again, both seemed to smirk.

"You seem to have improved greatly since I left" Sakura remarked.

"So have you" Sasuke countered.

"It seems neither of us was picking daisies no?" Sakura sneered.

"For what occasion?" Sasuke questioned.

"Point taken" Sakura nodded _'Thunder'_ Sakura murmured. Again, people fell to the ground dead, this time however there was no blood, there wasn't any sign what so ever of any traces that they had been killed.

"_Stop hogging all the action Sakura-chan"_ Naruto whined as he was about to hit down some one who was already dead.

"_Gomen"_ Sakura murmured.

"_Sakura-chan?"_ Naruto questioned _"Something wrong, you're not moving"_

"_Dobe, she hasn't moved much of a muscle in any battle yet"_ Sasuke sighed_"Sakura?"_

"_Hmm…sorry, just thinking"_ Sakura said.

"_You think way too much, Ugly"_ Sai stated.

"_Urasai"_ Sakura glared _"Let's just keep going, we have to move heaps quickly-"_

"_Hey Sakura…"_ Sasuke began.

"_Nani?"_

"_Remember that genjutsu you used back when you got me from sound?"_ Sasuke asked.

_FLASH BACK…_

"_Shut up woman" Sakura glared, her bunshins, both of them had exploded, an enemy was near by "Some one's close by" Sakura said._

"_What makes you think that?" Suigetsu questioned._

"_My fail safe plan, if they bunshins are destroyed, both of them, then some one must be after either me, or my goods" Sakura smirked before performing her genjutsu and continued moving._

"_And so you are going to run straight into the enemy?" Jugo questioned._

"_I bet you anything they won't see me or you guys passing by them" Sakura smirked. Minutes later, they passed a rouge ninja, who was looking for the real cherry blossom, who was passing right over them._

"_Told you" Sakura smirked, she was basically in the guy's face but he did nothing to attack her, before dispelling the jutsu_

…_END FLASH BACK_

"_Yea?"_

"_Why haven't you just used that?"_ Sasuke asked.

"…"

"_Sakura?"_ Kakashi questioned.

"_I forgot about it, I haven't needed to use it in a long time"_ Sakura sweat dropped. Turning around, Sakura smirked slightly as she jumped up and landed on Guyver's back _"What was Tsunade-sama's reply?"_ Sakura asked looking at Jinki.

"_I see"_ Sakura nodded.

"_What did Tsunade-sama say?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_There's not one shinobi available for help, we have to deal with it some how"_ Sakura cursed.

"_Well, we'll have to use your genjutsu"_ Sasuke stated.

"_We have no choice"_ Sakura nodded.

"I can't believe I forgot about that jutsu, if I used it, we could have been saved a heap of effort" Sakura chuckled.

"Shut up Sakura" Sai, Sasuke and Kakashi glared as all four males fell to the ground exhausted.

"Here, take a soldier pill" Sakura requested handing them a brown pill each before taking one her self. Pausing for a moment to let the energy rush back into her system, Sakura performed the required hand seals, concentrating on her chakra and where it should go before she put the genjutsu into action as well as an invisible shield around the travelling carriages, just to be on the safe side.

"All done?" Kakashi asked.

"Yup" Sakura nodded.

"Well, then let's go"

* * *

"_Sakura how many soldier pills do you have with you?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_A small bag, I haven't had a chance to stock up on them in a while"_ Sakura replied _"Why?"_

"_We will need a lot"_ Kakashi concluded.

"_Yea we will…"_ Sakura murmured _'Half an hour, over 400 000 men, impossible'_

"_As long as we keep moving, we can get going-"_

"_There's a problem with that, to Lightning from Konoha, its around four days travel, we have barely finished the first day in one piece, without any proper resources there is no way to get rid of them without wasting all our energy"_ Sakura stated.

"_Can you ever look on the positive side of life?"_ Sai sighed.

"_I'm stating facts" _Sakura said _'Hmm…maybe I should use poisons for a while…' _Sakura thought _'Yea…that could do if I had the right materials, I only have a small amount of ingredients with me right now, I guess I could add other things in them and other poisons I'm carrying for one, although they might all explode…nah…'_

"Ouji-sama, do you still require me to sit on the top of your carriage?" Sakura asked walking at the pace the carriage was moving at.

"Oh yes please Onee-sama!" Ichirou pleaded.

"Okay" Sakura nodded, jumping onto the carriages, secretly pulling out various poisons and ingredients for poisons. Crushing the ingredients, she lay oblivious to the curious eyes of her team mates as they watched her hand glow green as the ingredients she crushed plus the other poisons combined in her hands as the mixture began changing from a yellow to a darker green colour as the glow of her hand slowly turned blue.

* * *

"_Kakashi-sensei, what's Sakura-chan doing?"_ Naruto asked.

"_I have no idea"_ Kakashi replied.

* * *

Concentrating on the mixture, the glow of her hand turned a bright red before it turned a muckish purple colour swooshing around in the palm of her hand.

"That should do it for now" Sakura muttered as she poured the liquid into a couple of jars.

* * *

"_I think she's making a poison"_ Sai said.

"_Or made it…"_ Sasuke added.

"_Well, knowing Sakura, we better be wary of her weapons then, her poisons are deadly"_ Kakashi remarked.

* * *

"So…so…so…so many SHINOBI!!!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well of course it is, 50400, it ain't exactly a small amount" Sakura scoffed "We have to move as quickly as we possible can after this attack, because as soon as it ends, the 8th attack will be on us like stink, and that will be roughly 403200 shinobi!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Well, I'll just have to combat against that number" Naruto proclaimed "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" he shouted as hundreds upon hundreds of Naruto clones appeared and began attacking madly.

"Can some one actually summon that many men in that amount of time?" Sasuke questioned.

"It's possible" Sai muttered.

"Well this lot isn't a genjutsu, but maybe the next lot will be, we'll just have to wait" Sakura replied "Even I have my doubts about being able to summon that many shinobi in 11 and something minutes"

"We've already fought close to nine thousand shinobi, there can't seriously be fifty thousand more who will do this person's bidding" Sai scoffed.

"There's a catch to it then" Sakura concluded _'Earth'_ Sakura mused. Instantly all the shinobi they were fighting, were swallowed by the ground below them leaving only their heads viewable.

"_Come on, let's go"_ Sakura said half heartedly before she walked right passed the cursing heads.

"_Sakura-chan?"_

"_Sakura?"_

"_Ugly?"_

"_Sakura?"_

"_SAKURA-CHAN?!!!"_

"…_Sakura?"_

"_SAKURA-CHAN YOU THERE?!?!?!"_

"_Hmm? Oh…is something wrong?" _Sakura asked.

"_Is something wrong with __**you**__?" _Kakashi asked.

"_No, why?"_ Sakura questioned.

"_You seem preoccupied"_ Sai said.

"_Mm…just thinking"_ Sakura replied.

"_About?"_ Sasuke asked.

"_Don't you think it's odd that Lightning Country Shinobi are attacking Lightning Country royalty?"_ Sakura asked.

"_Well sorta"_ Naruto replied.

"_You wouldn't have even thought about it Naruto" _Sakura sighed.

"_Well…yes…Umm…err…"_ Naruto stammered.

"_That means the rumours are true…" _Sakura said.

"_What rumours?"_ Kakashi questioned.

"_The current King of the Lightning country has gone missing and been over thrown, the person who over took…he has access to any and nearly all shinobi at the Lightning Country's disposal as well as the fact he has hundred upon thousands of men ready to serve him"_ Sakura replied _"I didn't think much of it when I came from the Lightning Country a while back because there was still peace and I thought it was highly unreasonable that the Lightning King ruler could have been over thrown"_ Sakura growled kicking a rock that lay unsuspecting on the ground _"I'm so stupid! I should have realized it immediately!" _

"_It's okay Sakura-chan, you can't know every thing"_ Naruto frowned.

"But if I even considered that the rumour was true we could have moved faster and not have to encounter this many shinobi" Sakura cursed "Tch, how troublesome, oi Guyver-kun, fly up for a sec" Sakura ordered as she jumped onto her large bird.

"_Sakura is there anyone around?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_Yes, and by the looks of it, every one of the 403200 that I predicted…hmm…I think I have a way out of this; tell Ouji-sama to stop the carriages'_ Sakura announced.

"_Are you nuts?!"_ Kakashi yelled.

"_Just do it"_ Sakura said.

"_Fine"_ Kakashi sighed _"Ouji-sama, there will be another attack coming soon and one of our members has come up with a way to avoid them, the sheer amount of people would overwhelm us completely if not for this plan, so to aid in the plan, we are asking you to stop your carriages"_ Kakashi said. On the other side in the back ground it appeared that the Prince had agreed as the carriages had stopped seconds after.

"_Alright, tell them to hold on"_ Sakura said.

"_Hai, minna-san hold on please"_ Kakashi asked _"Sakura they're ready"_

"_Good, get ready"_ Sakura whispered. In seconds the ground below the began rumbling madly as the feeling of being raised up into the sky rushed through everyone's souls _"No one fell down right?"_

"_No"_

"_Good, no hold on real tight"_ Sakura shouted so everyone heard her. Instantly, the ground began shaking again, even stronger than before as the ground below them, began to slowly move forward.

"_This…Sakura-chan!"_ Naruto exclaimed.

"_Please Naruto, no noise, requires a lot of concentration, never done this before"_ Sakura said forcefully _"Tell the charges they may rest if they wish to, you may too guys"_ Sakura said.

"_You sure Sakura?"_ Kakashi asked as he watched her head towards the front of the carriages and sit down.

"_Yea, get some rest, when we get to the Lightning Country we are going to over throw the people who over threw the Lightning Royalty" _Sakura declared. Nodding in understanding, everyone on the moving Earth (aside the one blossoms) settled down for a some what comfortable sleep.

* * *

Morning of the next day slowly came to the moving troop of Lightning Country Royalty and Konoha shinobi, waking up the shinobi in little to know time.

"What time is it?" Naruto grumbled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"_Hmm…about twenty passed six"_ Sakura replied.

"EEEEEEE!!!!" Naruto screeched, waking up everyone on the moving earth.

"Nani?!" Kakashi exclaimed as he jumped up from his sleeping bag.

"Dobe what's the problem so early in the morning?"Sasuke glared as he recomposed himself.

"Who…who…who just talked?!?!?!?!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"When?" Sai yawned as he sat up tiredly.

"You know…before!!!" Naruto wailed.

"_Naruto, if you are talking about before you screamed, it was me"_ Sakura sighed.

"EEEE!!! SEE!! That VOICE!!!!" Naruto shouted.

"Dobe, that voice was most likely Sakura, we can't hear it because unlike you, we turned off our headsets before going to sleep" Sasuke grumbled, obviously upset he was awoken by something so pathetic.

"Oh…was that you Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, calmer than before.

"_If you are talking about before you were screeching, then yes it was me"_ Sakura replied.

"Oh, thank Kami" Naruto sighed in relief.

"_Oi Sakura, how far have we gotten?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_I've cut down a four day journey into a bit more than one and a half days journey"_ Sakura replied.

"_Then do you want to take a break now?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_If I were to stop now, then more than likely we would be hit by the millions of men below us"_ Sakura stated.

"…" Kakashi gaped as he looked over the edge of the moving earth.

"_I for one am glad Ugly can do this"_ Sai sighed in relief.

"_I think we all are"_ Naruto murmured. Slowly silence reigned over the five Konoha shinobi, each in their own thoughts about the current situation.

'_Sakura sure has learnt a lot over these past five years away from Konoha, she has learnt more than what I did in five years, on her own'_ Sasuke thought with jealousy.

'_I can't believe how much stronger she has gotten, I didn't think it would be possible, maybe Genma-san was right all those years back'_ Kakashi chuckled bitterly.

'_Sugoi Sakura-chan! You have so much strength'_ Naruto thought admiring her strength.

'_Ugly sure has changed a lot over five years, her battle technique is totally different; she practically avoids getting physical'_ Sai noted.

'_Hmm…I think there's a pile of laundry that has to be done soon and the fridge needs to be restacked'_ Sakura thought idly before she pulled out another solider pill and crunched on it. Four unsuspecting males jumped in surprise after hearing the crunching noise.

"_Oh hey Guyver-kun"_ Sakura said _"I see, thanks Guyver-kun, go rest"_ Sakura said.

"_What was your bird doing Sakura?" _Sasuke asked.

"_Scouting the area"_ Sakura replied _"Apparently there aren't many men left at the Palace, it will be an easy take over; but we have to be careful incase, it might be a surprise attack and they actually might be strong"_ Sakura answered.

"_You've been up the whole time haven't you Sakura?" _Kakashi stated.

"_Yes…"_ Sakura replied.

"_As soon as we get there, we'll all hide out and take a break"_ Kakashi announced.

"_Hai"_ Sakura replied. Suddenly the ground began to slowly move faster and faster.

"_You don't have to move faster Sakura"_ Kakashi said nervously.

"_I wasn't moving that fast before because you were all asleep, I didn't want to be losing random people"_ Sakura replied.

"_Oh…"_ Kakashi mouthed.

* * *

"Gomen Ouji-sama, but for now we are going to rest here before we go and take but the Lightning Country" Kakashi said as they began to move into the forest just outside the Lightning Palace.

"Hai" the Prince nodded.

"We've gotten a pretty far way into the forest, I think we should be safe here" Kakashi noted.

"Hai" Naruto nodded.

"Sakura, you can take a break now" Kakashi said.

"Aa" Sakura grunted as she chose a random tree, jumped onto one of the many branches and sat there, quite contempt to fall asleep then and there, secretly, out of habit two sets clones were set up and began to search the area.

* * *

Hours passed before a new day came to the prepared Konoha troop, over the night, each guarded, just incase of enemies that would come their way. Still in the tree, Sakura lay asleep, obviously she was very tired.

"Sasuke go wake up Sakura" Kakashi ordered.

"Hn" Sasuke grunted as he walked over to the tree the girl was perched in. Suddenly the girl woke up with a start and threw two kunai to the left of her. Breathing heavily and rapidly, Sakura looked around before sighing in relief.

"Err…Sakura-chan you alright?" Naruto asked.

"Yea I'm fine-" Sakura said before she trailed off at the end of her sentence.

"Sakura?"

"Sshh!" Sakura hissed, placing a lone finger in front of her mouth to indicate silence. Glancing around Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered.

"We should get moving, I have this feeling that the enemy is coming this way" Sakura said "It'd be dangerous to fight in a forest"

"Right" Kakashi nodded.

* * *

"You were right Sakura-chan! People were after us! And there weren't many people at the palace!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning madly as they began to make their way back towards Konoha with the mission completed.

"How'd you know?!" Naruto asked.

"Mmm, I had Guyver-kun out scouting the palace before…and I heard them before shuffling through the forest, bunshins went off" Sakura replied.

"Seriously?" Naruto gaped.

"Aa" Sakura nodded.

* * *

"Well done Team Kakashi on a successful mission" Tsunade smiled, greeting them as she entered her office. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Come in" Tsunade said. Slowly the door opened to reveal the village elders, Danzou and a slightly nervous Shizune.

"Danzou? What are you doing here?" Tsunade growled.

"Please excuse us Tsunade-hime" Danzou sneered "But there is a matter at hand that must be addressed"

"Which is?" Tsunade asked.

"The trial of Haruno Sakura for treason" the female elder announced.

Suddenly the entire room went tense.

* * *

Chapter 2: Trials of Sakura 


	3. Trials of Sakura

**Chapter 2: **Trials of Sakura

* * *

Yes, you may exclaim, 'Finally!' I'm really sorry for the delay, but I offically am assignment and exam free!! I am FREE!! Anyway, for those who are interested, I have recently posted a couple of reviews of anime/manga series (more like rants) on my profile, so if you have time to look and read, please do!! Enjoy TMoTCB chapter 2, chapter 3 will come as soon as editing is finished, see, I HAVE been working!

* * *

**Summary: **She has returned. But there seems to be something she knows that they don't. Before it's too late she must tell them and save Konoha, at the same time, she must confront her heart, mind and soul about her feelings to a certain Uchiha. Simple enough right? What if it seemed every thing and one was against her? What would she do? Did her training for five years prepare her for the future that is about to come? Sasusaku. Rated T for violence.

* * *

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Inner selves'**_

"Talking"

_FLASH BACK…_

P.O.V

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

* * *

**Recap:**

"Well done Team Kakashi on a successful mission" Tsunade smiled, greeting them as she entered her office. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Come in" Tsunade said. Slowly the door opened to reveal the village elders, Danzou and a slightly nervous Shizune.

"Danzou? What are you doing here?" Tsunade growled.

"Please excuse us Tsunade-hime" Danzou sneered "But there is a matter at hand that must be addressed"

"Which is?" Tsunade asked.

"The trial of Haruno Sakura for treason" the female elder announced.

Suddenly the entire room went tense.

**End Recap.**

* * *

"Please excuse us Tsunade-hime" Danzou sneered "But there is a matter at hand that must be addressed"

"Which is?" Tsunade asked.

"The trial of Haruno Sakura" the female elder announced.

Suddenly the entire room went tense. Instantly, fingers were clicked and in that second the pink haired woman was apprehended by at least five ANBU ops as her chakra points were sealed off by one of the Hyuuga members. Enduring the pain, Sakura fell to the ground as she recollected her self, trying to ignore the chains and chakra strings that were binding into her skin.

'_Itai'_ Sakura cursed inwardly as she looked up at the elders, trying to break the urge to glare at them as a collar was placed around her neck.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran up to the woman who was still trying to break through the pain.

"The less you struggle the less pain you will feel" the female elder insisted "You shall be detained until your trial; but more than likely, you will be executed for your crime" she sneered.

"Take her away" Danzou ordered, instantly the pink haired girl was out of their sights and so were the ANBU ops that were holding her down.

"What do you mean the trial of Haruno Sakura?!" Tsunade boomed, behind her was Naruto ready to shout the exact same.

"What do you think?" the elder female glared.

"What for?!" Naruto growled.

"For abandoning the village! What do you think?!" Danzou glared.

"Her trial shall be in two months on the 28th of March, until then Team Kakashi has a mission" the elder declared.

'_Is that date some curse to her or something?!'_ all of team Kakashi exclaimed inwardly.

"What mission?" Tsunade glared.

"Rumours have been going around that Akatsuki are in Snow and are moving, but to where they're moving is unknown, Team Kakashi is to find out what their motives are" the female elder explained.

'…' Tsunade stared blankly at the elders for a moment.

"Their team shall consist of Uzamaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Sai, Hatake Kakashi as well as Yamanaka Ino and Shizune as medics" Danzou said.

"No! I'm not going on any mission without Sakura-chan!" Naruto declared.

"You will! Or I will have detained!" the female elder shouted.

"You!-"

"Let's get this mission over and done with Naruto, so we can be back before Sakura's trial" Sasuke said.

"Fine" Naruto muttered "let's go guys"

"Aa" Sasuke grunted before all four males exited the room angrily.

"Shizune, go find Yamanaka and tell her she has a mission to prepare for" Tsunade ordered, inwardly glaring at the elders and Danzou.

"Remember Tsunade-hime, just because she's your apprentice does not mean she can just slide away without punishment" Danzou commented before they left.

* * *

As weeks passed, the date of Sakura's trial was drawing nearer and nearer while her team seemed to be getting further and further away from Konoha as they continued to track the Akatsuki; or at least that's what the rumour was. The Konoha twelve were more than shocked when they learnt that Sakura was in one of Konoha's high security prisons and further more, when they learnt of the lengths that the elders had taken to keep her detained, they were terrified for her well being.

Inside the high security prison, in a separate bolted shut holding cell sat a deranged and almost completely malnourished pink haired female who was held back to the bench she was sitting on the and the wall she was leaning on by heavy duty chains and yards of chakra strings around her wrists, ankles and neck, as well as every single one of her fingers, just for safe measure. Along with the many binds, her chakra points were sealed off daily to make sure she couldn't use any of her jutsus or that so called 'pesky' blood line trait. Opposite her was the door to the holding cell which was pretty much bolted tight with additional other traps and bits and pieces that kept her inside. Settling for glaring at the door opposite her, Sakura continued to plot some type of escape ignoring the desperate cries and calls that were seemingly coming towards her holding cell.

Brought out of her mind by the sound of her holding cell unlocking and opening Sakura glanced up to see Ino and Shizune right in front of her with distressed faces. In front of them were barred doors, separating the three females. Inwardly glaring at them for a moment, she waited for them to catch their lost breathe before they began to talk.

"Sakura-san! We need your help!" Shizune exclaimed.

"What could you possibly need my help for Shizune, after all, weren't you the one who technically put me in here?" Sakura asked mockingly; some how knowing that the mission that her and her team went on didn't go as planned.

"W-what are you talking about?" Shizune stammered.

"Don't think I don't know that you went behind your great Tsunade-sama's back and told the elders I was abandoning the village" Sakura scoffed.

"I was only thinking of the village's safety!" Shizune retorted.

"I hardly think so-"

"Please, Sakura-chan we need your help!" Ino exclaimed.

"With what?" Sakura asked monotonously.

"Naruto, Sasuke, they…they-"

"What did they do this time?" Sakura asked immediately, slightly concerned.

"They…they…"

"During our mission to track the Akatsuki some things happened and both changed form-"

"What do you mean _changed form_?" Sakura growled as she stood up abruptly only to be pulled back down by the changes, glancing down at her wrists and ankles, Sakura could tell right now, in pitch black that they were most likely swollen, bruised, infected and blistering.

"Naruto, he had tails, orange tails! Sasuke had these weird wings! His hair grew! Naruto's fingernails grew to, it's like he was the-"

"Kyubi" Sakura finished off "Wait, what do you mean _Sasuke_ transformed?" Sakura asked "And aside that, Naruto transforming in no big deal you just have to use the seal on him and he's as good as new"

"He transformed! His hair was half way down his back, his skin turned black, his face was completely different!" Shizune exclaimed.

"Impossible" Sakura scoffed, sitting back down in a more comfortable position "besides that, what does that have to do with me?"

"Both are terribly injured, half way through their fighting, they two got confused and began fighting each other violently" Shizune frowned.

"Then go heal them" Sakura replied bored.

"They won't allow us or any one to heal them! They're barely conscious, but every time we try to heal them they move away and begin to kick and scream, well that's Naruto, but both refuse to let us heal them" Shizune frowned.

"Well then let them die" Sakura shrugged.

"What?!" Ino exclaimed.

"How can you say that about your own team mates?!" Shizune growled.

"Well first off, because I can, second off, what do you think I could do huh? I have been in here for god knows how long and tied up! For Kami's sake, I have no chakra to give off since some one decided to tell the elders I so called abandoned the village, I see no reason to help you" Sakura scoffed.

"Look, okay, I'm sorry, but please save them, without them our village will loose great military power!" Shizune frowned.

"You'll have to do something more to convince me, aside the fact I _can't_ and military power won't matter to me since more than likely, as soon as the end of my trial is finished I will be dead" Sakura shrugged.

"You _traitor_" Shizune hissed.

"You're one to talk Shizune, you went behind Tsunade-sama's back and told the village elders the wrong information" Sakura scoffed.

"What do you mean?" Shizune asked calmly as she possibly could.

"That is classified information, go ask Tsunade-sama, that is, if she'll listen to you, _traitor_" Sakura sneered.

"W-what are you talking-"

"Oh by the way, that last mission you went on, was completely pointless, I already knew where the Akatsuki were heading, and if you were correct in the sense that both of my team mates 'transformed' then I guarantee you that the Akatsuki have been delayed and will arrive here in about two to three weeks" Sakura voiced "And in fact they should have been here at about now"

"H-how would you know?" Shizune gaped "WHO TOLD YOU?!"

"Guard, can you please close the door, I no longer want to see the face of a _traitor_, oh, Shizune, Ino, don't think I don't know both of you went behind Tsunade-sama's back numerous times, maybe next time if you are thinking of the welfare of Konoha maybe you should think in the long run and not what will make you look good in front of the elders" Sakura smirked as the doors to the holding cell were bolted shut and tied up again.

* * *

"She won't heal them" Shizune sighed in distaste as she returned into the Hokage's office where Tsunade and Kakashi were sitting really worried. Behind her was Ino, also upset.

"Why?" Kakashi asked, obviously frowning.

"She believes it's of no benefit to her since she reckons more than likely she'll be executed" Ino replied.

"Then Kakashi and I shall go to talk to her" Tsunade announced.

"Oh she also said something about the Akatsuki coming in about two to three weeks" Shizune said as she followed Tsunade out the door.

"Shizune, I believe you should stop following me, I know it was you who told the elders about Sakura leaving the village, you really shouldn't have, you've caused this village a great amount of despair now" Tsunade growled before she left with Kakashi behind her.

* * *

"Sakura, please heal your team mates" Tsunade ordered as the gates to the Haruno female's holding cell opened.

"What's in it for me?" Sakura asked.

"We can get you out-"

"How exactly? Hmm? These bonds aren't exactly easy to break, and aside that, my chakra points are still blocked off and without any chakra I can't heal anyone-"

"Sakura-chan" a new voice peeped.

"Hinata-san? I see, well if you can get me out of here, I will heal my team mates" Sakura said.

"You make one more move Hyuuga-san and I shall have you detained for trying to break free and criminal!" Danzou proclaimed. Behind him were the village elders as well as Shizune and Ino.

"But…" Hinata murmured "Naruto-kun…"

"We can easily heal both of them, all we have to do-"

"Is knock them out? Highly impossible, the shock from being knocked out will most likely kill them, and further more, to heal the injuries both sustained would take many hours with many medics and by the time one is healed the other will be dead" Tsunade glared.

"I refuse to allow you to bring out this traitor" the village elder female declared.

"Then pick one of the boys; Uchiha or Uzamaki" Tsunade ordered.

"..."

"B-but, Tsunade-sama" Shizune began "even if we allow Sakura-san out, she still would be able to only heal as slowly as us"

"…" Tsunade glared at her so called apprentice.

"On the contrary Shizune, I only take a few minutes to heal both" Sakura said.

"Impossible, you have no proof!" Shizune glared.

"There's no way you could!" Ino declared "You haven't got any kind of ability to do that!"

"To heal it depends on a great ability of chakra control and chakra, if you have neither you can't heal or be a medic and not only that it takes time, you can't heal both in a matter of minutes after you see those wounds!" Shizune insisted.

"Don't blame me if people have more trust in me than you, you brought it upon your self" Sakura declared

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Shizune frowned.

"We have remained in this village all our lives and remained completely loyal compared to you who left for five years! Our ability shouldn't even be compared to your pathetic ability!" Ino growled.

"Hinata please unblock my chakra points"

"Thank you Sakura-chan" Hinata whispered before she began unblocking her chakra points effortlessly.

"Aa" Sakura grunted. Suddenly, she felt the warmth of her chakra back in her and ready to be used. Instantly, Sakura pulled on the chains that bound her down, breaking the restraints effortlessly. In seconds Sakura whipped out two kunai, which seemed to be coated in a purple liquid.

"W-what are you doing with those?" Shizune stammered.

"Both of these are covered in a deadly mixture of nearly all my poisons I had going to the Lightning Country, once placed in the body the person has about ten seconds to live" Sakura said "Watch and learn" Instantly, Sakura stabbed her self with both poison covered kunai and then ripped them out forcefully before tossing them onto the ground. Gasping in terror as blood poured for her body and out of her mouth, Ino and Shizune (thinking they were good medics) began to run towards the girl before they stopped when they saw what Sakura had just done. She put her own hand into her wound.

"W-what a-are you-"

Instantly as the time seemed to be drawing nearer and nearer to her death, Sakura pulled her hand out and as her hand was being pulled out it looked like clear white strings were being pulled out by her hand. As the length of these so called strings increased the amount of blood around her wound decreased and it appeared to be actually sealing up while the colour of the strings changed to a purple colour. When the wound was finally healed, Sakura seemed to give one last pull on the string like material before they were ripped off and Sakura was as good as new. Wiping the blood from her chin Sakura stared at Shizune and Ino for a moment.

"You're right Ino, our medical ability is not even comparable" Sakura sneered "And when you do surpass Tsunade-sama, if you can even get there, then you can consider the possible chance that you can actually be in the same league as my self"

"H-how"

"Please, I'm not revealing how I did that, it's my own special trick, maybe when you can heal people in a matter of seconds without hand seals, I might consider telling you" Sakura sneered before she walked out of the jail cell without a care.

* * *

Walking into the room both injured Team seven males lay in, Sakura sighed as she gave both boys a once over. Walking over to them, both slowly began to struggle, knowing that some one was going to try and heal them. Smirking inwardly, Sakura sighed outwardly.

"Oi, Chicken-head, Dobe, stop, it's me, Sakura" Sakura said quietly. Both seemed to stop thrashing about when they heard her voice.

"S-sakura-c-chan?" Naruto rasped.

"Quiet now, you'll be healed in seconds" Sakura reassured quietly before she performed a quick couple of hand seals. Like before, both males began healing simultaneously as Sakura stared at them relieved, but still kept an impassive façade. As she promised, the two males were healed down to the last tiny scratch before they both sat up, as good as new.

"S-sakura-c-chan" Naruto exclaimed as he looked at her.

"Sakura" Sasuke whispered in relief.

"How do you feel?" Sakura asked, behind her was Tsunade and Kakashi, amazed at her ability.

"Great, as good as new!" Naruto grinned a cat-like grin.

"Yea, I'm all good too" Sasuke nodded.

"Good" Sakura nodded smiling fakely before that smile vanished and an annoyed façade replaced her happy one "YOU TWO ARE SUCH BAKAS!" Sakura growled before hitting them both on the head before returning to her annoyed façade which was almost a mocking face.

"Eh?" Naruto grunted as he held his head in pain.

"Geez, next time just let some one else heal you! You were disrupting my sleep, geez, I had just gotten comfortable too; do you realize how hard it is to sleep sitting up in that cell?" Sakura huffed angrily (yet some what playfully).

"Hehe, gomen Sakura-chan" Naruto laughed nervously "But no one can heal us like you do" Naruto grinned childishly.

"Next time, think about it though, you were practically dead!" Sakura sighed.

"Gomen, but if one member of Team Kakashi suffers, we all do" Naruto grinned.

"Geez, you guys" Sakura sighed.

"Sakura" Tsunade called out in a serious tone.

"You sure you want to know here?-" Sakura asked seriously as she continued to face her two team mates.

Suddenly the door to the room flung open and Sakura was once again caught by ANBU ops.

"Your poor judgment will cost us the village Tsunade-hime" the village elder sneered as she stepped into the room.

"Then I suppose you want to loose great military power?" Tsunade glared.

"No, but you could have merely knocked the two out-"

"If I knocked them out, they would have been _dead_! I already told you that!" Tsunade growled "Further more, they are now as good as new in the five minutes that Sakura-chan has been in here and can continue to go on missions immediately if _I_ say so!"

"No matter your ill bred apprentice will go back under custody-"

"She's damn innocent!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, don't worry about it" Sakura shrugged "If they want to lock me away that's fine by me, they just got to remember who they will be affecting in the long run, I for one can see this incident happening all over again, they should just know that what you guys failed to learn about in your last mission, I know every single detail, well anyway, ja, see you in about two weeks?" Sakura shrugged as she began to move out of the hospital room, which forced the ANBU ops to move with her.

"What do you know?" one of the elders growled.

"I am choosing to remain silent right now, it's no benefit for me to tell you information I know, oh and when you come across Shizune and Ino, tell them I said they suck at being a shinobi, I'm baffled to see how they obtained the genin rank" Sakura smirked triumphantly as she walked out leaving a gaping pair of elders.

"Geez, Sakura-chan…" Naruto sighed.

"That's our Sakura" Kakashi chuckled.

"She's hasn't changed one bit" Sasuke sighed. Instantly all three males began to leave when they were stopped by Shizune who was at the door; who looked slightly worried.

"You guys shouldn't leave just yet, you just got healed!" Shizune exclaimed.

"Tch! Unlike your healing ability Sakura's is top notch so we don't have to waste time indoors recuperating" Sasuke scoffed as he passed by the black haired woman, annoyed at her after learning she was the snitch which got Sakura locked up.

"Shizune-nee-chan, Sakura-chan doesn't deserve to be on trial on her birthday" Naruto frowned following Sasuke.

"Geez, those three, they haven't changed since they were genin, well I guess that's a good thing, their team work is rock solid" Kakashi mused before leaving.

"Tsunade-sama, about Sakura-san…" Shizune began.

"I don't want to hear it, not only have you gone behind my back, valuable information is now lost because you have locked Sakura away" Tsunade glowered.

"What do you mean?" Shizune exclaimed.

"Sakura-chan didn't leave the village-"

"That's positively outrageous! She went right up and told you she was leaving!" Shizune exclaimed. Behind her were the village elders agreeing.

"Chose what you want to believe, but remember you must take responsibility of your own actions"

* * *

"Maybe we should go-"

"Sasuke-kun" Kagaimi squealed as she ran up to the Uchiha.

"Oh hi Kagaimi-chan" Naruto grinned.

"Hn" Sasuke grunted.

"I haven't seen you in ages! Shizune-chan said you were in the hospital, daijobou?" Kagaimi asked.

"Aa" Sasuke grunted.

"Did you guys hear?" Kagaimi questioned.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I'm being placed on your team!" Kagaimi squealed.

"That's impossible, you're a chuunin, we're ANBU" Naruto frowned.

"I got moved up two ranks since the village elders think I'm ready for it" Kagaimi grinned.

"But it's already a five man team!" Naruto gaped.

"Oh they said I was going to replace Sakura-chan" Kagaimi squealed some more "isn't that great Sasuke-kun? We're on the same team!"

"Aa-"

"No it's not! You are not replacing Sakura-chan! I refuse to allow you to take over Sakura-chan's place!" Naruto growled.

"You're going to have to learn to adjust eventually Naruto" Kagaimi insisted.

"No I refuse! Besides, Sakura-chan is our medic-"

"So? I have medic skills, Shizune-chan taught me!" Kagaimi frowned.

"Well then we may as well dig our graves" Naruto murmured.

"Naruto please stop beating down on my fiancé" Sasuke sighed.

"No! You may be able to accept Sakura-chan being replaced, but I sure can't! Sakura-chan couldn't stand it when you were replaced by Sai, and I can't stand some one else replacing Sakura-chan after Team Kakashi became full again!" Naruto growled.

"Team Kakashi will be full again! Kagaimi will replace Sakura so it's the same! Sakura might end up dead any way so it doesn't matter!" Sasuke glared "Kagaimi skills will be just as good as any other medic out there, so it's okay!"

"She may have skills of other medics, but Sakura-chan is no other medic" Naruto growled before he walked away, angry at his best friend.

* * *

"Sakura-chan, daijobou?" Naruto asked from behind the cell door, upset as he watched his pink haired team mate look up at him bored.

"Yea, I'm fine, why are you here?" Sakura asked.

"Can't a team mate come and see another?" Naruto asked.

"I guess" Sakura chuckled.

"Anyway, I brought you some ramen from Ichiraku" Naruto grinned as he brought out two tubs, filled with ramen.

"Thanks Naruto" Sakura smiled as she walked towards Naruto who handed her the ramen container through the cell bars before sitting down and eating; Sakura copying him.

"Itadakimasu" both seemed to smile as they shared a meal together.

"See, Team Kakashi is still the same, we go out for ramen" Naruto smiled a forced smile.

"Thanks Naruto" Sakura smiled.

Sakura smiled slightly before digging into the ramen Naruto had given her "I guess you're right Naruto"

"Hmm?" Naruto questioned as he slurped his ramen.

"Ichiraku ramen is the best" Sakura smiled.

"You bet!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Eating without us are you?" Kakashi questioned as he appeared behind Naruto, which scared the blonde haired boy a slight amount. Faking pain, Kakashi grinned before sitting down with a serving of ramen for him self. Behind him, Sai and Sasuke also had a serving of ramen and sat down.

"Itadakimasu!" they all exclaimed.

"Thanks guys" Sakura smiled, holding back the tears of joy she felt coming up.

"Hey, what member of Team Kakashi does, the rest to do" Kakashi shrugged.

"If that's how it goes how come you guys didn't wait for me?!" a new voice wailed. Instantly, Kagaimi came out of the shadows with ramen in her hands like everyone else.

"What do you mean-"

"YOU ARE **NOT** A MEMBER OF TEAM KAKASHI!" Naruto growled. Suddenly without any warning, Kagaimi seemed to trip on her own to feet before the bowl of ramen in her hands began to spill every where, and splashed right onto Sakura, who sat shock stricken for a moment before her face changed into a distorted look of pain. Trying to ignore the burns, Sakura looked up confused at Sasuke's fiancé, slowly comprehending what was just said.

"Yes I am!" Kagaimi growled back "It's that Sakura who isn't a part of Team Kakashi anymore! I don't see why you guys are here!" Kagaimi exclaimed, glaring and pointing at Sakura, who was still suffering from the burns of the hot soup.

"Just leave" Naruto spat before he turned his attention to Sakura, who was still twitching for the heat of the soup.

"You'll be okay; I'll get Tsunade-baa-chan!" Naruto exclaimed before he disappeared from sight for about a second before he dragged back a baffled looking Tsunade.

"Sakura-chan daijobou?" Tsunade asked.

"Aa" Sakura grunted "The burns aren't really that bad" Sakura replied.

"Why are you healing her? She'll be dead soon anyway!" Kagaimi glared.

"Kagaimi-san, I advise you to keep your mouth shut right now" Sakura stated.

"What can you do? You're tied up!" Kagaimi sneered.

"On the contrary" Sakura smirked. Instantly she stood up and pulled on the chains that held her down breaking them just as easily as before.

"H-how-"

"It seems that they seemed to forget to block my chakra points" Sakura smirked as her burn wounds began to heal instantly without any hand seals or any movement of her body "They really should start remembering if they're going to keep me down that they have to block my chakra points, after all, I'm Tsunade-sama's apprentice" Sakura sneered as she moved back into the darkness of her cell before she hit the wall and smashed it with an effortless tap of her finger. Instantly the wall fell to the ground as sunlight poured into the dark cell and dust began to mix with the falling debris making it impossible to see anything.

"S-sakura-c-chan" Naruto gasped.

"Ugly?" Sai questioned as he tried to point out her finger in the blinding light.

"Sakura!" Kakashi coughed as he breathed in the dust, holding onto the bars which separated Sakura and the rest of the people in the jail cell.

"Che, No one can keep Haruno Sakura down with such pathetic restraints" Sakura commented with her figure still covered by the flying dust and debris.

"Tsunade-sama, I shall be waiting for you" her voice whispered before she disappeared in a flash, in her place as the dust and debris finally cleared was a small scattered pile of cherry blossom petals.

"Sakura-chan just dug her self an even deeper hole…" Naruto mused.

"That girl…" Kakashi sighed.

"She was just waiting for something like this to arise" Sai noticed.

Looking down at his fiancé, Sasuke noticed a slight playing smirk on her features, but decided to think better of it for the moment as the member of Team Kakashi all remained silent. Looking around, something finally occurred to Team Kakashi.

"Ano…where's Tsunade-baa-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I bet she's gone to look for Sakura" Kakashi said.

"What ever knowledge Ugly has; must be very important if it will affect the future of the village" Sai mused.

"Very important" Kakashi nodded.

* * *

"You took your time coming" a voice said under a long black cloak. With their face hidden by a black covered mask, the two covered in dark cloaks were concealed by the night in a far off field which was only familiar to a few people.

"Yes, well you know how hard it is to get rid of annoying followers like her" the other person said. Both seemed female.

"Everything is better written is it not?" the first asked.

"Indeed" the second person seemed to nod as she was handed a slightly large scroll.

"Remember, this meeting never happened" the first whispered before she disappeared from sight.

"Of course" the second said as she disappeared like the first.

* * *

"This is bad; if Sakura-chan doesn't appear soon; she'll totally be dead meat!" Naruto exclaimed. Five hours after she broke out of the maximum security jail, they had yet to find her and it was slowly arising suspicion to what she was doing and if she was actually innocent.

"Err…Dickless…" Sai gaped.

"What are you gaping at Sai-teme?" Naruto asked as he averted his gaze to whatever Sai was looking at. Realizing what he was gaping at; he too gaped in shock.

* * *

'_Geez, what's Tsunade-sama thinking? This really is one big drama'_ Sakura sighed from inside the jail cell she was assigned. Sitting on the slightly raised bench; her arms, ankles and neck were bound again and the wall was just as it was before she supposedly smashed it to pieces.

'_All this just to find out what the Akatsuki are planning? I think it'd be rather obvious…'_ Sakura remarked _'Move over…'_

_FLASH BACK…_

"_During our mission to track the Akatsuki some things happened and both changed form-"_

"_What do you mean changed form?" Sakura growled as she stood up abruptly only to be pulled back down by the changes, glancing down at her wrists and ankles, Sakura could tell right now, in pitch black that they were most likely swollen, bruised, infected and blistering._

"_Naruto, he had tails, orange tails! Sasuke had these weird wings! His hair grew! Naruto's fingernails grew to, it's like he was the-"_

"_Kyubi" Sakura finished off "Wait, what do you mean Sasuke transformed?" Sakura asked "And aside that, Naruto transforming in no big deal you just have to use the seal on him and he's as good as new"_

"_He transformed! His hair was half way down his back, his skin turned black, his face was completely different!" Shizune exclaimed._

…_END FLASH BACK_

'_There's no way Sasuke could have transformed! Naruto; yes it is possible he still has the Kyubi inside him; but Sasuke? He has nothing to make him transform! I removed the curse seal from him myself! And even if I didn't Orochimaru is long gone! It wouldn't be able to work if he's dead!'_ Sakura paused as her eyes widened _'No impossible! I killed him! I even made sure it was his body! I brought back the head myself!-'_

"Sakura-chan!" a voiced sighed in relief.Looking up, Sakura was surprised to see Naruto and Sai in front of the wall of bars.

"What are you two doing in here?" Sakura asked.

"What are you doing in here?! Didn't you break out?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well…not entirely…break out isn't the correct term…" Sakura murmured.

"But you smashed the wall behind you!" Naruto argued.

"Not really" Sakura chuckled "You really shouldn't believe what your eyes tell you all the time"

"You mean…" Sai muttered.

"Yup! Genjutsu!" Sakura smirked.

"Since when?" Sai asked calmly.

"Hmm…can't tell you" Sakura sneered.

"…right…"

"You guys better go back to your partners, knowing those two they're most likely going sick with worry" Sakura said.

"Oh yea! Hinata-chan here I come!" Naruto exclaimed before he bolted out of the door of the jail.

"I can stay here for a bit longer-"  
"Sai, don't worry about Ino said to me; she was probably trying to get a certain _someone_ to recognise her as a good medic and something that's actually helpful" Sakura advised.

"…right, I'm going" Sai nodded nervously before he too left.

"Tsunade-sama, you can come out now" Sakura announced to the darkness. The sound of footsteps echoed until the said person reached the jail cell.

"The information you gave me is quite detailed" Tsunade mused.

"Of course" Sakura scoffed.

"But I have a feeling that there are some bits and pieces missing in there" Tsunade voiced.

"Possibly" Sakura shrugged.

"You can be very irritating at times" Tsunade twitched.

"Who's the one in the jail cell right now?" Sakura glared.

"…I better be going before anyone notices I'm gone" Tsunade muttered.

* * *

'_So they actually did replace me huh?'_ Sakura chuckled bitterly. Some how, she knew (a week after when Shizune came to her for help), deep down that her team mates and supposedly close friends had moved on and accepted she was a traitor who was going to die sooner or later and used Sasuke's fiancé as an escape route_ 'A lot has changed since I have stepped foot outside'_

* * *

'_Screaming?'_ Sakura questioned as she was awoken from her sleep. Glaring at the blocked off cell door, Sakura closed her eyes in hope that she would be able to hear whatever was going on outside easier.

'_Footsteps'_ Sakura noticed _'They're getting louder too; same with those screams and yells, what the hell is going on out there? Can't I get any sleep here?!'_ Sakura cursed _'I can't even tell who's coming towards my cell; the chakra pattern isn't familiar…'_ Suddenly the footsteps stopped. Slowly the metal doors creaked open. Opening her eyes Sakura glared at the person who was causing all the noise.

"Who the hell do you think you are creating such a ruckus when people are trying…to…" Sakura gasped "…sleep" she ended quietly _'Impossible!'_ "I killed you!!"

"Now, now, _Sakura-chan_, you wouldn't want to be disturbing the sleep of other inmates would you?" the hissing voice sneered.

"What are you doing here?!" Sakura demanded.

"In search of a new body" he smirked "And I have found the perfect one" with that said, his neck extended much like a snake and headed straight towards the pink haired woman. Struggling to break free of her chains and binds, Sakura gasped in pain with she felt the horrible sensation of being bitten in the neck. With the task completed; the figure retracted his neck and disappeared.

Wincing in immense pain, Sakura continued to struggle in the hopes of getting out of the restraints and possibly scratch at the pain if only to relieve her self of a small amount of what she was feeling. Oblivious to the hurried footsteps, Sakura began to shake and flail violently with the feeling of being pulled apart so close to reality. Then she felt something different, a warm and incredibly inviting feeling rushed through her.

Her chakra.

No.

It wasn't her chakra. Widening her eyes in quick realization, Sakura effortlessly broke free of the binds which kept her down and crashed out of the jail cell (once again); fleeing the scene as quickly as her body could possibly allow.

Behind her the faint calls of her name were heard as she raced further and further from the holding prison.

* * *

"What do we do? What the hell is wrong with Sakura-chan?!" Naruto exclaimed as the three younger males of Team Kakashi followed the fleeing woman.

"If we knew we'd tell you" Sai grunted.

"Didn't the guards say _he_ was here?" Naruto asked.

"Yea, but that's impossible; Sakura beheaded him; I saw it with my own eyes" Sasuke said.

"Then what the hell has gotten into Ugly?" Sai cursed.

"I don't know, but what ever it is, it's gone and made a mess of things" Sasuke noticed as the jumped over the slightly destroyed town of Konoha.

"Oi; what's that dome?" Naruto asked; pointing to an almost completely clear coloured dome that was forming in one of many of Sakura's training grounds that she used to use.

"That is one of Sakura's shields" Sasuke noticed "But it's much bigger than usual"

"Let's go!" Sai exclaimed as the three of them raced faster to the dome.

* * *

Sakura screeched in pain. Falling into a fetus position on the ground Sakura continued to claw at her neck as if to try and remove the source of her pain. Fighting the pain Sakura to move upward so she was on her hands and knees and began to slowly stand before falling straight down again as odd black marks began slithering across her skin burning her with the evil chakra. Screaming in pain Sakura clutched her head as the pain began surfacing to her brain as if wanting to burst out of her own skull.

* * *

"Since when did Sakura-chan have the curse seal?" Naruto asked with concern as they continued to try and break into the barrier Sakura has set up.

"She never had the curse seal before to my knowledge" Sasuke said.

"Doesn't it look different to other curse seals?" Sai questioned.

"Much different" Sasuke noticed _'It closely resembles the marks she had five years ago'_

Suddenly all three males stared in shock.

"Hey guys, I know this is kind of a stupid question. But should her body be going that brown colour? Is her hair supposed to be that dark usually? And err...are her eyes supposed to look that dark and evil?"

"No way" Sai gasped.

"Level three curse seal" Sasuke gaped as brown claw like wings sprouted from the back of the pink haired girl, ripping her white kimono to make room for the wings which had just sprouted.

"We gotta get in there!" Naruto exclaimed as he began banging his body against the invisible shield.

"Don't bother Dobe" Sasuke sighed as he sat on the ground calmly.

"How can you be so calm teme?! Sakura-chan is in danger!" Naruto shouted.

"No she isn't-"

"What do you mean?" Sai asked.

"More than likely, Sakura has put up this shield to keep her in not us out" Sasuke said.

"Why would she do that?" Naruto asked.

"Probably some where in Sakura's subconscious she is aware of what would happen while the curse seal is activated and so to prevent everything being completely destroyed in an unconscious rampage, Sakura has put up the seal in her sane mind to keep her in" Sasuke said.

"No one can in; no one can get out" Sai remarked as he sat down like Sasuke "Well we better get comfortable; knowing Ugly she'll destroy this place in about ten minutes but still go for more"

"Fine, but if she's hurt after this; I'm blaming you two" Naruto glared as he sat down as well. Moments passed as Sakura remained in the fetus position while as the horrendous curse seal monster struggling to remain in control of her own actions; the ground around was barely recognizable making it impossible to actually see the girl. Then something caught their attention.

"Hey guys, what's that?" Naruto asked. Inside; where Sakura was something was surfacing from the ground.

"It looks like roots…" Sai mused.

"Yea" Sasuke nodded.

"Umm…why are roots coming up from the ground?" Naruto asked.

"Dobe; its Sakura's kekkei genkai remember? Elemental control" Sasuke sighed.

"Then why are they coming up now?" Naruto frowned.

Instantly the rising roots shot towards Sakura and wrapped around her figure, holding her in place with no means of being able to move at all. With Sakura caught in her own technique, the roots began tossing Sakura around madly while keeping her in a strong hold.

"Sakura-chan! You guys said to just relax well look at what's happening now! Sakura-chan is getting hurt!" Naruto exclaimed standing up.

"Dobe, she's in the ANBU for a reason" Sasuke sighed, still sitting on the ground.

"Something like this won't put her out of commission; Ugly's probably doing this purposely anyway" Sai said.

"What do you mean? Why would Sakura-chan purposely attack herself?!" Naruto growled.

"So she could knock her self unconscious, if she knocks her out, then the curse seal will recede and she'll be back to normal" Sai explained.

"Oh" Naruto nodded "So she probably realized this on her own?"

"Most likely, I mean, she is technically in the ANBU for a reason" Sasuke shrugged watching the pink hair which was flying everywhere yet still remained in two buns (messy ones mind you).

Suddenly the barrier began to fall and the ground began to move back into the flat landscape that it was previously before the pink haired woman tore it up. Looking up in the sky, all three males gasped. Dashing forward, all three moved as fast as she possibly could to catch the girl which was about to hit the ground at full speed (considering she was falling from roughly ten kilometres in the air). Jumping upward, Sasuke effortlessly leaped forward and caught the girl in his arms (bridal style) and landed back on the ground which was back to its normal state. Looking up at the sky, all three males sighed in relief as they watched the sun set for the day.

* * *

Birds whistled in the morning breeze as leaves danced around them outside a hospital room. Perched on a branch of a tree near the hospital, birds seemed to watch the world go by while watching the pink haired woman sleep. With sunlight pouring in and the refreshing morning breeze bringing in the new day, it was only a matter of time before the pink haired woman who was sleeping would awake. Inside the hospital room aside the bed in which the girl was sleeping on were a vase of flowers on the wooden side table which sat next to the bed and opposite the table and bed was an arm chair for those visiting the patients. Wearing what seemed to be a white t-shirt as a top, her pink hair remained messy from the day before while around her head was a round of bandages which was presumably keeping a large amount of blood from pouring out.

Twitching slightly from the brightness of the sunlight, the sleeping Sakura slowly stirred in her sleep before waking up completely. Lifting her slightly heavy eyelids, she looked at the environment around her and easily identified it as the hospital. Slowly sitting up, Sakura massaged the nape of her neck where the curse seal burned her skin before looking out at the world from the window next to the bed. Hours later the door opened. Turning her attention to the sudden sound Sakura was hardly surprised to find her team mates at the door, who weren't surprised she was awake.

"Ohayou" Sakura smiled.

"Aa"

"Ohayou Sakura-chan" Naruto greeted.

"What Dickless said Ugly" Sai sneered.

"How long have I been in here?" Sakura asked as the three males came into the room and towards her.

"Hmm…I'd say less than twelve hours" Sai said.

"I see" Sakura nodded.

"How long have you been awake, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Not that long" Sakura lied "About five minutes, hey what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Sasuke asked bewildered.

"It's kind of blurry" Sakura said "I remember being in the prison cell, then some one came into my cell…and…" Sakura murmured as she trailed off at the end.

"And?" Naruto asked.

"Orochimaru" Sakura spat with venom.

"What about that bastard?" Naruto growled.

"He's the one who came into my cell…" Sakura glowered "bastard!" Sakura growled as she punched the bed in frustration. Suddenly the bed broke in two as Sakura fell with it.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he went to help her.

"Remember your strength Ugly…" Sai twitched.

"Yea, yea" Sakura sighed as she got off the broken bed, revealing that she was wearing black bike shorts underneath the plain white t-shirt.

"The curse seal shouldn't be much of a big deal for you" Sasuke mused "Can't you just remove it off your self like you did with me?"

"…" Sakura averted her attention away from Sasuke and towards the outside world.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned.

"How do I put this?" Sakura murmured to her self.

"Put what?"

"…" Sakura sighed "The jutsu I used to remove you of the curse seal wasn't a removing jutsu"

"What was it?" Sasuke asked.

"It was a transferring jutsu" Sakura said.

"Transferring?" Sasuke asked.

"How?"

"The jutsu; it works between the one using the jutsu and the one it's used on. Simply put, I took the curse seal you had" Sakura explained.

"And where did you place it?" Sai asked.

"Into my body" Sakura said.

"So basically you've had the curse seal for ten years plus?!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"No-"

"How?"

"When I used the jutsu previously, I had…things in my body which would kill off anything foreign that entered and was not wanted, so I didn't technically have it, but now, those certain things that killed off things like curse seals is gone" Sakura said.

"Then can't you just get it back?" Naruto asked.

"No" Sakura frowned.

"Why not?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Well…it would require at least five years preparation and a couple of…other things, I'm not exactly sure since I have never done it before" Sakura explained. Noticing her uneasiness when it came to answering the questions, Sai and Sasuke quickly changed the subject, knowing if they didn't Naruto would keep asking until he got an answer.

"Sakura, why did Orochimaru give you the curse seal?" Sasuke asked.

"Yea why did he?" Naruto asked.

'_Thanks Sasuke'_ Sakura smiled mentally "Hmm…if I remember he said something about a new body" Sakura said.

"Perverted Pedophile" Naruto hissed while Sasuke and Sai thought the exact same thing.

Sakura sweatdropped "Anyway, do you guys know where my clothes are?" Sakura asked, taking off the bandages off her head _'I can feel blood around my head again, thank Kami!'_

"They were no longer in one piece so the hospital decided to toss them, but your gloves and shorts were kept" Sai said.

"Geez, that sucks" Sakura sighed.

"Since they had to get rid of the clothes, they went and bought you another one to act as a temporary one though"

"Where is it?"

"In the draw of the side table" Sasuke said.

"Thanks" Sakura nodded as she went over to the side table and pulled open the draw revealing a pink and red kimono with a hearts and sakura petals pattern over it in white. Jumping back in slight fear Sakura eyed the kimono suspiciously.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"What the hell is this?!" Sakura exclaimed as she pulled out the pink and red kimono.

"Wow, pretty" Naruto exclaimed.

"Who the hell picked it?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I think they got Ino and Shizune to" Sai said.

"I'm going to kill them" Sakura murmured evilly.

"Don't kill them" Naruto sweatdropped "It's not that bad, it's the same style as your previous one, just in a different colour" Naruto reassured.

"…fine…get out so I can change" Sakura ordered. Instantly, the three got out, leaving her to change into the pink monstrosity. Moments passed before Sakura was quickly changed and allowed the three back in.

"Sakura…where did your cloak come from?" Sasuke asked twitching at the long black coat which she was wearing over the kimono so no pink or red was seen.

"Don't be surprised of anything any more Sasuke" Sakura murmured.

"Aren't you going to fix your hair?" Naruto asked looking at her hair which was a complete mess.

"I will…when I get home…" Sakura muttered.

"No way! I wanna see how long your hair is!" Naruto frowned as he pounced onto the black cloaked girl and began wrestling with the hair ties on her head while holding her in place.

"Hey! What the hell?-" Suddenly there was a little click and the room went silent.

"Sakura-chan what was that?" Naruto asked nervously "it came from your hair when I took out both of the hair ties"

"Drop down!" Sakura exclaimed as she fell to the ground as two shuriken came out from the buns of her hair, releasing the long locks but at the same time went flying at incredible speeds, almost going through the walls of the hospital room. Glancing nervously at the shuriken which had missed their hair by an inch Sai and Sasuke turned their attention back to Sakura who was getting up, obviously annoyed.

"You had shuriken in your hair?" Sai gaped.

"Umm…yea…" Sakura sweatdropped. Suddenly all three males paused as they watched Sakura stand and her hair fall to the ground.

"Woah…Sakura-chan your hair is so long" Naruto exclaimed ass he quickly glanced at the pile of pink hair at Sakura feet.

"Yea, I know, it get's annoying at times which is why I keep it tied up" Sakura sighed.

"Why not cut it?" Sai asked.

"Couldn't be bothered, been to busy to anyway" Sakura explained as her hair began moving by itself. Slowly, twirling hair was divided into two and brought up into two buns in the same style as she had previously before she tied them up and inserted a shuriken into each one.

"How'd you do that?!" Naruto gaped.

"By controlling my chakra and moving it through my hair, I can basically control my hair"

"Oh I see" Naruto nodded "That is so cool!"

"I suppose" Sakura shrugged "Well anyway-"

Instantly the door opened revealing Shizune and Ino with the elders behind them.

"Haruno Sakura you are to be detained" the elder female announced before clicking her fingers. Again like before ANBU ops came out of the shadows and caught the girl who was smirking.

"I'm sorry, but I won't be caught that easily" Sakura stated before her figure disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped.

"Go! Find her!" the elder commanded.

"She shouldn't have gotten far, the wound to her head should be slowing her down slightly" Shizune said, then something caught her eyes "She took off her bandages?!"

"Yea, a while back-"

"Why didn't you stop her?!" Ino exclaimed "No matter how good a medic she is, she had a serious head injury!"

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, this is becoming annoying, let's just tell them everything, we may as well now anyway"

"Yea, we better; I need you back on the field"

"You got the scrolls?"

"Yea, let's go!"

* * *

"Hmm, not really, by the time we arrived at the hospital last night she was already healed, we just placed her here since it was easier and she needed to be cleaned up, besides we had no room in any of our places" Naruto grinned.

"What?!" Shizune exclaimed.

"There's no way, she was unconscious!" Ino retorted.

"Sakura's medical abilities have far surpassed those of any medical field while conscious; unconscious, she is able to heal her self perfectly without any problems" Sasuke explained.

"Like Dickless said, we only really brought her here since for one, we have no room in any of our houses, two we can't get to her house since it's been blocked by a powerful genjutsu and three; she needed to be cleaned up, considering the amount of blood on her clothes and how torn up they were" Sai stated "Do you actually want three males undressing and dressing Ugly?"

"…"

Suddenly there were two loud explosions in the centre of the room.

"Oh good, they're still here" a voice seemed to note from the middle where clouds of smoke were beginning to disperse.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned.

"The one and only" Sakura smirked as the dust cleared.

"Tsunade-sama?!" Shizune gasped when she saw the blonde haired woman.

"Sakura" Tsunade said.

"Right" Sakura nodded. Instantly, following the silent command, Sakura performed a couple of hand seals before every single person in the room disappeared.

* * *

Reappearing in the Hokage's office, aside Tsunade and Sakura the inhabitants looked extremely confused and wary; already inside the room was Kakashi waiting. Looking at Tsunade and Sakura, they became cautious when Sakura began performing another set of hand seals.

"Is it complete Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

"All done" Sakura nodded.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the elder female growled.

"Sit" Tsunade ordered, pointing to the table and the set of low chairs that were set up in the middle of everyone.

"How much do you want the safety of this village to remain?" Sakura asked as she sat down.

"What do you mean? Of course, the safety of the village is a top priority" the male elder scoffed.

"Then you will revoke the sentence and trial of Haruno Sakura" Tsunade declared.

"Why?! She is nothing but a traitor!" Shizune growled.

"Shizune-san" Sakura said monotonously "I advise you to keep quiet until addressed other wise it could end fatal to you"

"…"

"Good, now as Tsunade-sama was saying, revoke the charges against me and I can guarantee that the safety of the village in the future is improved by at least a fraction" Sakura stated.

"How can you?"

"I have knowledge concerning the village, however, I have no reason to give out such information without anything in it for me" Sakura said.

"Fine, all charges will be revoked against you" the elder male declared.

"Good, sign this so we have proof of this taking place" Tsunade ordered showing them a piece of paper which had said that they were revoking the charges against Sakura. Hesitantly, both elders signed the document. Instantly with the document signed it was gone in a flash.

"Now with that out of the way, what's this knowledge you know?!" the elder female questioned.

"The village will be attacked in almost two weeks, I guarantee it" Sakura said.

"By whom?!"

"Who else? The Akatsuki, this is the only alliance that is a threat to Konoha and the shinobi world" Sakura stated.

"How would you know? That information should have been known to your team before but they knew nothing of it!" the elder female growled.

"Did you honestly think I would betray Konoha?" Sakura scoffed.

"You did! I heard it with my own ears!" Shizune growled.

"Didn't I tell you to keep quiet?!" Sakura glared.

"…"

"These past five years…no more, almost these past eight years; Sakura has been on a mission" Tsunade stated.

"A mission?" Sasuke asked.

"Correct" Sakura nodded.

"Doing what?" Kakashi asked.

"Gathering information concerning the Akatsuki" Tsunade said "She didn't leave, she was put on a top secret mission; all of what you heard was an act"

"W-what? Then why not tell me?!" Shizune frowned.

"The mission was _**top secret**_" Tsunade repeated.

"Then why not tell us?" the female elder asked.

"It was _**top secret**_" Tsunade repeated.

"Then why did she take the mission?" the male elder asked.

"She's one of my most trusted ANBU ops" Tsunade replied.

"But you only inducted her into the ANBU when she returned!" Shizune frowned.

"Officially, I was inducted way before Sasuke returned to the village but it was never announced" Sakura stated.

"She was tested by ANBU head captains at the time; her status as a jounin was all an act so no one remained suspicious when she went around the villages scoping for information for me about the Akatsuki" Tsunade explained "No one questioned it before when she was inducted, they assumed she didn't want publicity, and so most who didn't know thought she was a jounin, those who knew her ranking in the ANBU called her of a superior suffix because of that"

"Nearly every single encounter Tsunade and I had been all an act to exchange information" Sakura explained.

"But half of those she was drunk!" Shizune exclaimed "And I was there!"

"Again that was an act, every single time she was supposedly drunk she wasn't, if you smelt her breathe you would have noticed immediately and concerning while you were there, yes, we exchanged information during those times too, it was simply coded information or discreetly given"

"No way…" Shizune gaped.

"By the way, Tsunade-sama" Sakura said.

"Oh right" Tsunade nodded as she pulled out three large scrolls and placed them on the table in front of the elders.

"That is the information I have compiled over eight years, perhaps when you have time, you should read it, I'm sure we all realize why the Akatsuki will be here, use this time to prepare" Sakura suggested before she disabled what ever jutsu she had created and left the room.

"Why would the Akatsuki be here?" Ino asked.

"Ino, not now" Tsunade stated before she too left the Hokage office.

"What does the Akatsuki want here?!" Ino demanded.

"They want me" Naruto replied gravely before leaving.

"Why do they want Naruto?!" Ino asked.

"…"

"He's the Kyubi vessel" the elder male answered before Sasuke and Sai left.

"Oh" Ino murmured.

* * *

"What are you doing here Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he loamed over the pink haired girl. Next to him were Naruto and Sai and behind him was Kakashi. Currently the whole of Team Kakashi was in the library.

"Doing a little research" Sakura replied from behind the books and scrolls she had spread out in front of her.

"So the first thing you do as you get out of jail is do research?" Kakashi twitched.

"What can I say? It just wouldn't be me other wise" Sakura grinned.

"So what are you researching?" Naruto asked.

"Oh nothing in particular" Sakura murmured.

"It doesn't look like it" Naruto frowned "I can't make heads or tails of anything in your script in front of you that you're writing"

"Hmm?" Sakura frowned confused as she looked over her work.

"Is that even a known language Ugly?" Sai asked.

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed in realization "It's coded, bad habit of mine" Sakura sweatdropped.

"I'll say" Sai murmured.

"I get it!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"Really?" Sasuke, Sai, Sakura and Kakashi asked, gaping.

"Yea of course! What an interesting way of keeping your self amused during your research Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned.

'_He's a little off…'_ Sakura sweatdropped "I suppose you could put it that way…"

"By the way..." Sasuke began.

"Hmm?"

"The day for Kagaimi and my wedding has been decided…" Sasuke said.

"When is it?" Sakura asked.

"…The 28th of March" Sasuke replied hesitantly "Kagaimi thought it'd be the perfect day for it since it's kinda in the middle of spring"

"Oh I see, what time?" Sakura asked.

"She decided that it'd be perfect to have it in the early morning" Sasuke replied.

"…oh, so where is it?" Sakura asked.

"An open field, just outside Konoha, which is found deep in the forest and is surrounded by cherry blossom trees; Kagaimi found it a while back she said and thought it was 'perfect" Sasuke replied. Sakura froze.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked; confused to why she looked so shock stricken.

"Ah…g-g-gomen nasai! I-I-I just remembered…I have to go some where" Sakura whispered hastily as she packed up her gear and everything she had splayed out in front of her before leaving right out of the door of the library with her bangs covering her eyes.

"M-matte, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he chased after her.

"What's with Ugly? Is she that upset she is going to have to sit through your wedding?" Sai asked.

"That place you described Sasuke…" Kakashi murmured.

"It isn't!" Sai growled.

"Aa" Sasuke nodded carefully.

* * *

"Sakura-chan! Chotto matte!" Naruto shouted as he chased after her. Before he could even catch up to her she jumped up into the air and fell back down only to be caught by Guyver who appeared conveniently.

* * *

'_This is so wrong…'_ Sakura mused. Sitting down on a large rock in the middle of the forest Sakura continued thinking about the information that Sasuke had given her. Suddenly a figure appeared behind her back.

"Hey Chicken-head" Sakura said quietly.

"Look, Sakura…" Sasuke muttered.

"You don't have to worry about me Sasuke; I'm just here thinking of way a way to get rid of the damn curse seal" Sakura lied.

"No your not, I know you're thinking about the details of my wedding" Sasuke stated.

"Yea, you're right on that one" Sakura sighed "But what can I do about it huh? I'm sure Kagaimi-san didn't plan it on that day on purpose or in that location on purpose" Sakura muttered quietly "However, I can not allow you do have your wedding there on that date" Sakura declared angrily.

"Why not?! Why don't you just get over your clan's death huh?! You said your self it wasn't done on purpose-"

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but you don't seem to understand the predicament I'm in, this is sacred ground we're talking about, no one can just go onto it without permission!" Sakura glared.

"You do!"

"That's because I am part if that family!" Sakura retorted.

"You just don't want to see me getting married! I bet you still have feelings for me! If you didn't you wouldn't care where I got married, it's no big deal!" Sasuke sneered.

"Don't you understand what I'm saying?! I said I no longer have feelings for you; it was a childish school girl crush! And if it isn't such a _big deal_ then why not just put a genjutsu over _your_ clan's graveyard, I'm sure it'd be equally as perfect!" Sakura snarled.

"You think I'm going to disrespect my family by allowing god knows who to trample over their graves when they have been resting peacefully!" Sasuke fired back.

"I'm glad we think the same way Uchiha" Sakura spoke quietly as she stood up on top of the rock.

"There's no comparison to my clan and your clan!-" Sasuke gasped in shock as he was caught in a string of vines and pulled into the rock they were both standing on.

"You're right Uchiha, there is no comparison. Our families may have similar pasts; being annulated, traitors in the family and all but at least the latest generation didn't go traitor and aim to kill their own family on their own" Sakura seethed as she head a kunai to his neck.

"You left the village too!" Sasuke growled.

"Have you not been listening to anything that has been said in the last couple of hours or so?!" Sakura exclaimed angrily; pressing the kunai against his neck even tighter "I was on a fucking mission!"

"…"

"You know what Uchiha, you're not worth my breath any more" Sakura muttered as she jumped off the rock.

"Hey don't just leave me here!" Sasuke growled.

"Oh, you know, I heard there was a storm coming" Sakura sneered before she left in a cloud of smoke.

"SAKURA!!" Sasuke yelled.

* * *

"Hey; is it me, or has the tension risen again in this team?" Naruto whispered to Sai and Kakashi as they all watched Sasuke and Sakura operate as they began to make preparations for when the Akatsuki would attack.

"That's about accurate" Kakashi replied back quietly; sweatdropping inwardly at the cold shoulder both were giving to the other.

"Dobe, don't be stupid, Haruno isn't on this team" Sasuke sneered.

"Yes she is-"

"He's right Naruto, I'm just here because Tsunade-sama asked me to do a couple of things, maybe that medic of yours should see to that wound you just got" Sakura voiced as she about continuing her task.

"What wound?" Naruto asked.

"Lower right leg" Sakura replied.

"Ahh! Sakura-chan, help me!" Naruto cried.

"I have no obligation to assist you since technically it would be of no benefit to me who is not part of your team" Sakura replied before she left quietly.

"Teme, did I ever mention how much of a bastard you are?" Naruto glared.

"…"

* * *

"Is everything set up Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, every possible entrance has shinobi stationed at them prepared for when _they_ come; citizens have already been evacuated through the under ground tunnel you created a while back" Tsunade nodded.

"Good, now, we just have to make sure they don't obtain their target and put them out of commission so they can't move onto the next target" Sakura voiced.

"And we intend to" Tsunade agreed.

"Let's remain prepared; the Akatsuki could strike as soon as midnight strikes" Sakura mused.

"Right! Keep near your old team; you have the most experience when it comes to facing the Akatsuki and more than likely those two will end up knocking each other out and tell Kagaimi-san she is to report to the hospital" Tsunade ordered.

"Hai" Sakura nodded before bowing and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned, waving to the pink haired kunoichi who was advancing towards them on Guyver.

"Yo" Sakura greeted waving her hand in a lazy attitude.

"You joining us again?" Sai asked.

"For the time being, I have been assigned to keep guard here for obvious reasons" Sakura replied "Remember Naruto, as much as you may want to fight them; keep it to a limit, we don't want you getting taken away any time soon do we?"

"Who would protect my Hinata-chan if I was taken?" Naruto grinned.

"Get lost! We don't need you here!" a high pitched voice growled.

"Practice what you preach Kagaimi!" Naruto glared.

"What?! I'm your team mate now not her!" Kagaimi declared.

"You are correct, however I've been put here for the time being under Tsunade-sama's orders and under those orders, you have to go to the hospital Kagaimi-san" Sakura stated.

"What?!" Kagaimi yelled.

'You heard me; Guyver-kun" Sakura voiced as she jumped up and landed on Guyver's back. Sitting down, Guyver lowered to the ground and nuzzled into a comfortable sitting position.

"You better go Kagaimi" Kakashi said.

"No!"

Suddenly something exploded in front of the group of six. Covering their eyes from the dust that just blew up from the force of the explosion, the six tried to make out who was coming towards them, knowing full well that some one was heading towards them and that person was after Naruto.

"It's begun" Sakura whispered to her self "Guyver-kun!" Sakura shouted as Guyver flew up into the air blowing away the dust that had yet to disappear.

"It's…" Naruto muttered as he tried to make out the figures which were heading towards them.

"No way…" Sai gaped.

"Shit" Kakashi cursed.

"…" Sasuke snarled glaring at one of the figures in particular.

"I don't believe it…" Sakura gaped.

"What are you all standing there for?! Let's go!" Kagaimi declared before she began racing towards the Akatsuki figures.

"Tch, don't take us lightly un" the blonde Akatsuki member sneered.

"No wait Kagaimi-san!" Sakura shouted "Guyver-kun!" Sakura pleaded quickly. Understanding the command, Guyver flapped his wings quickly before soaring towards Kagaimi who was about to be attacked by a clay bomb. Heading towards the clay bomb, Sakura kneeled on Guyver's back before slowly standing up and collected the clay bomb in her hands before tossing upwards into the air and shooting it with her precisely aimed shuriken.

"What the hell are you doing? I'm not that stupid to not know how to get rid a lump of clay!" Kagaimi glared.

"That wasn't normal clay fool!" Sakura shouted "Sasuke tell your fiancé to leave!"

"Kagaimi" Sasuke muttered.

"But Sasuke-kun!"

"Go Kagaimi, it will be safer for you" Sasuke said.

"Hai" she sulked before she left towards the hospital.

"Well, well, Sakura-san, your bird has gotten bigger since I last saw him un" Deidara commented looking up at the flying bird "but I think mine is bigger un" he sneered from on top of his clay bird which took flight so it was at the same level as Guyver.

"Your's isn't _living_!" Sakura snarled "What the hell? Why are so many members here?"

"Leader-san thought it was about time we got what we've been meaning to get for a while un" Deidara explained as both looked down at the already ensuring battles. Sasuke was versing Itachi (which was almost an entirely even battle) while Naruto was fending off Tobi and Kakashi and Sai were against Hidan and Kazuku leaving Kagaimi to try and fight against Zetsu and Kisame while leaving.

"Shit Kagaimi" Sakura cursed "Guyver-kun, down" Sakura commanded. Obeying the order, Guyver descended towards Kagaimi only to be stopped by Deidara and his clay bird.

"Your fight is with me right now, move and I'll blow her up right now un" Deidara threatened pointing to a little clay bug which was sticking to the back of Kagaimi.

"You bastard; let her leave!" Sakura seethed as she began shooting shots of water from no where towards Deidara and his bird.

"Fine; Kisame, Zetsu let her leave she isn't worth your strength anyway un" Deidara sneered; to which Kisame and Zetsu nodded and let her pass.

"Aren't you after the Kyubi?"

"Yes we are, however, we have a different target in mind for today's mission un" Deidara smirked _'Smart, she won't use fire knowing full well that if she does the clay will explode'_ Deidara noted as he dodged the bullets of water and now ice barely; getting hit many times.

"Like what? There's nothing that's of an extreme value to the Akatsuki in Konoha" Sakura declared as the small clay bombs and water bullets collided; creating minor explosions.

"On the contrary, there is un" Deidara smirked as both moved away from the massive explosion they just created.

"Like what?!" Sakura demanded tossing her shuriken towards Deidara who deflected them with his own.

"Not what; who un"

"Who then? Haven't you already got the other tail beasts aside Kyubi and Shukaku?!" Sakura asked.

Deidara smirked.

"You" another person answered as she was caught in a long wrap of trees roots. Turning her attention to the voice, Sakura gaped.

"Long time no see, Kura-chan" her older sister sneered as she shot fire balls towards the girl which were blocked by a wall of water.

"What the hell?" Sakura growled "Guyver-kun, escape!" Sakura ordered; understanding the order, the bird flew away leaving Sakura suspended in mid-air; caught in the trees roots her brother had captured her in.

"You have two options Saku-chan" Daiki declared.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped as he looked up for a second from his battle to check on her. In that second he was knocked back down by Tobi who used a fire jutsu.

"You don't have time to be looking else where" Tobi giggled.

"See, I told you we would be protecting her!" Kagaimi snarled.

"Kagaimi!" Sakura gasped as she shot her body towards the ground "Dodge!" Sakura ordered; watching Kisame and Zetsu gang up on her.

"As Daiki was saying; you have two options; you come with us, and we leave peacefully or we don't and you will come with us none the less" Hikari declared.

"You're five years _late_! I have nothing of value to the Akatsuki any more!" Sakura glowered "And besides…I chose neither!" Sakura sneered as her form exploded in a cloud of smoke leaving a log in her place.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" Sakura shouted as water dragons shot from her palms towards Hikari and Daiki; hitting them in one go.

"You will come with us one way or another Saku-chan" Daiki proclaimed as the earth began shooting up from the ground aiming to hit her, missing her barely.

"Tch" Sakura glared as she flipped out of the way landing on five metres back. On her last jump she twisted on her palms and brought out a handful of shuriken before tossing them in her spin towards her brother and sister. With wind picking up the force the shuriken were traveling at increased and it seemed the number of shuriken that were flying towards them were also increasing.

"Simple tricks won't work" Hikari sneered as both Daiki and her self dodged them effortlessly.

"On the contrary" Sakura smirked as she drew her hands in, pulling on thin almost completely invisible strings which brought the shuriken back and into the backs of Hikari, Daiki and oddly Deidara as well.

"Hey! You know how to use those funny strings like Sasori no danna un!" Deidara exclaimed.

"I picked up a few things in the past five years" Sakura commented as she watched them pull the shuriken out.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke shouted.

Turning around; Sakura stared wide-eyed. Ducking in seconds out of pure instinct Sakura narrowly missed the Samehada that flew right across her head. Growling, Sakura, while still near the ground, punched the ground near Kisame's feet, throwing him off balance and away from her so she could stand again. Standing up as soon as Kisame was away from her; Sakura cursed as she looked around her.

"Damn" Sakura hissed in frustration and in pain as she tried to block out the draining pain from her neck.

"Now, you see, all you had to do was come quietly" Hikari sneered watching from the outside of the circle that surrounded the pink haired girl with Daiki and Itachi. Instantly the six that surrounded her charged forward. Growling at the advancing attack, Sakura moved her feet into a different stance before she delivered a knife block to Kisame in the gut and following through with an elbow to Tobi stomach which kicked both of them back and away from her for the moment. Jumping up the second, Sakura kicked out to both sides, hitting Hidan and Kazuku in the head before landing and side kicking Deidara away. Relieved that she had a bit more space, she slammed the ground with an axe kick destroying it into rubble and throwing her opponents off balance allowing her old team mates those few seconds to come back to back with her so they were prepared for the incoming fight.

"Hehe, it's just like old times ne?" Naruto grinned.

"When in the hell did we all verse Akatsuki together in the past?" Sakura asked.

"We didn't" Sai said.

"But that's because you were being a hog and fought them on your own" Kakashi sneered.

"Aa" Sasuke nodded.

"Let's go medicore on them for now" Kakashi muttered quietly.

"Aa" Sai, Sakura and Sasuke nodded.

"Yosh!" Naruto grinned "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as thousands of clones of himself were created and populated the area they were going to fight in "Let's go!" he exclaimed as the clones began charging towards Tobi and Zetsu.

"Katon: Housenka no jutsu!" Sasuke grunted as balls of fire were shot from his mouth and towards Kisame and Itachi.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Kakashi smirked as copies of him self were created at the same time that Sai's black painted beasts were and began launching attacks towards Hidan and Kazuku.

"Suiro no Jutsu!" Sakura exclaimed quickly as Hikari, Daiki and Deidara were caught in a ball of water which held them in like a prison would. Smirking, Sakura willed the chakra into her hands and pointed towards the three balls of water "Boom" she whispered as jolts of lightning were shot towards them; each exploding on contact. Suddenly Sakura gasped in pain; forcing her to kneel on the ground in the strange shock of pain.

"Damn it not now" Sakura cursed.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he saw kneel in pain.

"Kura-chan" Hikari voiced as Deidara, Daiki and her self began advancing towards her; surrounding her

"Sakura move!" Kakashi ordered.

"That was a dirty but smart trick" Daiki growled.

"Damn it Ugly, hurry up and get out of it or you really will be Ugly!" Sai yelled.

"But, that won't stop us un" Deidara grinned evilly as his clay was wrapped around the pink haired girl with tree roots that encased her previously.

It seemed all their yelling was being out to waste with them all fighting in their own battles and Sakura completely oblivious to anything but the draining pain from her neck. Without realizing she had been lifted, Sakura felt wind rushing through her. Glancing up, Sakura looked slightly relieved knowing she was in Sasuke's arms not some else's.

"Hand her over or both of you go boom un" Deidara threatened.

"Shit!" Sakura cursed as she began wriggling her way through the exploding clay.

"Sasuke in three" Sakura whispered quietly.

"Aa" Sasuke nodded discreetly.

"3"

"2"

"1!" Sakura exclaimed as she effortlessly broke through the exploding clay as Sasuke moved away in time.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu" both shouted as flames shot out of their mouth into the battlefield around them exploding the exploding clay and nearly burning their opponents had Hikari not stopped the flames.

"Do something better than that shrimp" Kisame sneered.

"Sakura, just kill them like you did in our last mission!" Sasuke ordered. Sakura froze but nodded after a moment.

"Oh, how did she kill in your last mission?" Daiki questioned.

"Was it possibly like this?" Hikari questioned as she smirked at an innocent bystander who randomly exploded leaving his body unidentifiable. Sakura froze.

"Oh so it was?" Daiki sneered.

"Tell you what, if you come with us Kura-chan, we'll leave this city in peace; you and I both know we could kill this entire town in a matter of minutes" Hikari smirked.

"What the hell do you want with Sakura-chan?!" Naruto growled. The question was left unanswered as walls of earth were brought up splitting up Team Kakashi; leaving Sakura separated and facing the Akatsuki members alone.

* * *

"Damn it every step we take the ground blocks us off!" Naruto cursed. Suddenly there was a scream of immense pain. The Team Kakashi males froze.

"SAKURA!" Kakashi and Sasuke yelled.

"UGLY!"

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

"This is bad; she's up against eight Akatsuki members!" Sai growled.

"We have to get in there!" Kakashi declared. Suddenly the earth wall fell to their feet.

"…no…" Sasuke gasped.

"…s-sakura-chan…" Naruto whispered in remorse.

"…Tsunade-sama is going to kill us…" Kakashi mused in slight humour.

"Not the time Kakashi" Sai grumbled at the sight in front of them. Well it wasn't much of a sight since there was any thing or body there!

"They've taken Sakura-chan…" Naruto cried.

"Ugly was wrong for once…and for once…I wish for some odd reason she had been right…" Sai murmured angrily.

* * *

Sakura gasped as she jumped up from the position she was previously in. Now she was sitting. Looking around, she could barely make anything out since she was covered in a blanket of darkness. Using the sense of touch, Sakura could immediately tell she was in a bed.

'_Hospital?'_ Sakura questioned for a moment before she ran her fingers over the material _'No; there's no hospital with kind of material for bed sheets; this material is soft and furry, like mink'_ she analysed. Falling on her back Sakura stared up at the presumable ceiling.

'_The pillows are very soft, like the ones I have inside my room'_ Sakura mused _'Where am I? What am I doing here?'_ she questioned as she looked from side to side. The only indication of any source of light was far from her position and looked like it came from the next room from under the presumable door. Closing her eyes, there was no change to the darkness, yet some how it made it easier for Sakura to think. Thinking back Sakura tried to focus on how on earth she ended up here.

_FLASH BACK…_

_The Akatsuki surrounded her and were leering at her with viciously excited grins; much like a hunter which was certain it was going to get its prey. Stepping back in slight fear, Sakura began to move her hands quickly in the hope she could set up the shield that had aided her many times before. Sakura gasped as she attempted to move her hands into the final hand seal. Her movements were blocked. Looking down at her hands; Sakura growled. Daiki used his kekkei genkai to hold her hands and body still by using plant roots._

'_Not good' Sakura cursed as she prepared to move a clump of earth to block any attacks that were to be thrown at her from the charging Akatsuki._

"_That won't work my dear Saku-chan" Daiki sneered as the earth wall was brought back down and the attacks that were against her attacked her at full throttle. In seconds she was engulfed by the force of clay bombs, fire and various assortments of weapons._

_As those attack hit; instantly all she saw was darkness._

…_END FLASH BACK_

'_Damn, this isn't good! How long have I been here? It seems like my wounds have healed completely, so that means at least a day…'_ Sakura realized as she jumped out of the bed and to the side where she landed on soft carpet; almost as soft as the bed covers. Suddenly there was a click coming from the entrance of where ever she was being held. As the door began to creak open Sakura moved her hands to where her kunai pouch would be only to realize she had no weapons on her. Cursing at her predicament, the pink haired kunoichi performed a quick set of hand seals before her hands began glowing a hazy blue. Slowly moving her feet into more appropriate stance, Sakura prepared her self for the enemy which was most likely opening the door to check on her; momentarily blinding her with the light from the outside and the light which was switched on.

"Oh, you're finally awake un. You sure sleep a lot; you've been out of it for about two weeks un" A voice noted. Taking mere seconds for her eyes to adjust Sakura gaze was set back towards the intruder of the room.

"…Deidara" Sakura grunted.

"You don't need to show such hostilities" Deidara sneered "So stop with the chakra scalpel"

"I don't think any one can take you seriously in that get up anyway" another voice sneered. She knew it by heart oddly. Looking at her opponents for a moment, Sakura realized they were still in their black and red cloud cloaks.

"Kisame" Sakura seethed. Glaring inwardly, Sakura straightened her stance and dispelled her chakra scalpel and looked over her form and the room she was in. Inwardly, Sakura had to agree with Kisame when he said no one would take her seriously in the outfit she was wearing. It was slightly off the shoulder and reached down to the middle of her solar plexus where in the centre a bright pink bow was tied neatly. Tightened under her breasts and above them, the night gown if you will was extremely poofy and had lace going on the rim of the gown which reached to her mid thigh. In the colour of light pink it had two layers in a dress style and long sleeves which had bows on the ends adding to the frilly and very girly attire.

Looking around the room; Sakura felt extremely out of place when she realized how odd the style of the room was. In a typical Victorian; rich style the walls were a soft apricot pink with soft white carpet under her bare feet and two crystal chandeliers that lite up the previously dark place. On the large queen sized bed which reached up to her belly button, the bed was layered with thick quilts and soft pillows covered in pink frilly silky satin material. Looking up, Sakura gaped at the canopy that covered the large bed, staring in slight awe at how elegant it looked in the slight dirty rose gold colour. Giving the room another quick look with her eyes without moving, Sakura noticed the amount of soft pinks used as well as theme of plush rabbits which was spread throughout the room like a disease.

"I thought I was a prisoner?" Sakura questioned.

"Leader-san said that this room was to be made specifically for you" Kisame explained begrudgingly "Don't think you got special treatment or anything; all our rooms are like this!"

"What do you people want with me?!" Sakura growled.

"That will be answered soon" Kisame stated.

"I want answer now damn it! I have nothing the Akatsuki want!" Sakura growled ferociously.

"Don't worry Sakura-san; your questions will be answered soon; we will return in an hour; by then, Leader-san expects that you will be prepared to dine with us, an appropriate dress is ready for you in the closet over there un" Deidara announced.

"Remember if you don't oblige; things could turn uncomfortable for you" Kisame added.

Sakura stared in shock as she fell to the ground and silently watched the two leave the room and close the door; presumably locking it. Looking around the room in full scale this time; Sakura out of all the things she noticed; noticed one thing.

'_There are no windows to this room'_

Trudging over to the said closet (which was made out of a rich mahogany wood and painted white Sakura gaped in shock.

'_What's with all the dresses?! All the clothes?!'_ Sakura exclaimed inwardly as she stared at the clothes inside the wooden closet.

All of them were very elegant; each with a completely different design to the last and a different colour to the last; it seemed the only thing each had in common was that they were all long ball gowns. Searching through the gowns, Sakura eventually found one that was some what appealing to her and pulled it out. Taking it over to the bed; Sakura stripped her self of the night gown she was wearing and slipped into the gown she had chosen. In the colours of light pastel aqua colours the gown was in a similar style to that of a kimono with the only different being that instead of it completely covering her shoulders and up to her neck it showed off her flawless skin and covered right up to where her breasts began. The top layer reaching down to her mid thigh like her usual attire, the layer below fell to the soles of her feet and dragged on the ground as she moved. With the dark obi secured and tied properly where it should sit, Sakura slipped on the arm sleeves that added to the straight style of the dress. Refusing to go out without any indication of what clan she was from she kept her black choker on and breathed in deeply as she stepped towards the dressing table which had a full length mirror beside it. Leaving her hair how she had it normally, Sakura sat on the bed and waited for her 'escorts' of sorts to come and get her while at the same time thinking of all possible reason to why she was being held captive.

Suddenly the door opened revealing Deidara and Kisame at the door both still wearing the black cloaks.

"Good to see you're ready" Kisame voiced looking over her figure.

"Come un" Deidara ordered. Staring at them for a moment, Sakura hesitantly slowly followed the two S-class criminals to supposedly 'dine'. As she stepped out of the room, Sakura stepped back unconsciously as something covered her vision. Out of pure reaction, she moved into a stiff fighting stance.

"Sorry Sakura-san but we can't risk anything about our hide out right now un" Deidara sneered. Swallowing the hard lump in her throat, Sakura nodded meekly before being dragged through the presumably halls of the Akatsuki lair. It was after about ten minutes of walking did the trio finally stop for a moment before continuing to walk; Sakura's guess was that a door had to be opened or something similar to that because after they stopped she heard a feint click and the creaking of hinges. As the sound of a door closing commenced, the blindfold which blocked the pink haired kuniochi's view was taken from her head allowing Sakura to identify where she was.

'_No windows…it must mean that we are under ground…I guess that means no chakra infused taijutsu'_ Sakura grumbled inwardly. Looking around, taking note of everything else Sakura noticed that all the members of the Akatsuki that she knew existed where there in the room sitting down in most likely assigned seats at the dining table. From the opposite end of the room; at the head of the table sat Pein and opposite him at the other end of the table sat Konan. From Pein, on the right, sat Kazuku then Hidan followed by Hikari and Daiki then Zetsu while on the left were Tobi then two spare seats Itachi and then another spare seat.

"Welcome Sakura-hime" Pein welcomed.

"What do you want with me?" Sakura growled.

"That shall be answered soon, now come sit and eat" Pein smirked "Surely you're hungry after being unconscious for two weeks" Understanding the order, Deidara dragged the pink haired girl to the spare seats and forced her to take the seat next to Itachi while he sat next to Tobi. On the other side of Itachi, Kisame had already taken the seat.

"Nice choice in dress Kura-chan, although I would have chosen a different colour" Hikari sneered as her gaze bore into her younger sister's soul. Suppressing the urge to shiver, Sakura mentally glared at the older Haruno female.

"And what colour would you have preferred Hikari?" Sakura seethed.

"Oh, something other than puke green" Hikari sneered.

"Well, next time you chose, frankly I don't care, now tell me what the fuck you want with me!" Sakura demanded glaring at Pein.

"Hush Sakura-hime, let's eat" Pein insisted as meals were brought out by what looks like clones of each member in the organisation and placed in front of each person.

"I hope the food meets your satisfaction Sakura-hime" Pein smiled wickedly.

'_What sick joke is this? If they wanted to capture the Kyubi from Naruto and use me as a hostage they wouldn't treat me like this…they could be after her; but they should know by now that it isn't just done over night…'_ Sakura wondered as she stared at the food with suspicion _'Poisoned?'_ Sakura wondered as she watched the others eat secretly.

"What's wrong Sakura-hime? You have yet to touch your food" Pein asked.

"Yea, Sakura-_hime_ un, what's wrong?" Deidara smirked.

"I'm for some _odd_ reason in no mood to eat" Sakura glared, stomping on Deidara's foot underneath the table making him wince in pain.

"Eat" Daiki ordered.

"Don't order me around bastard" Sakura glared.

"Come on Kura-_hime_, you should eat; you're still a growing lady; if you want to live up to the reputation of the person who surpassed the Godaime of Konoha, shouldn't you at least look the part? Flat-chest" Hikari sneered. Sakura blinked oddly as she stared at her older sister.

"Eat" Daiki repeated "If you are to ever have children you need to learn to get any energy possible, and with that flat chest, I don't think any male will be attracted"

Sakura stared weirdly at her brother.

Sakura stared weirdly at her older siblings _'This is probably the point where I scream 'perverts' or something…I think…this is one of those times when I should be incredibly freaked out'_

"…I found it odd that you as my older siblings are telling me these sorts of things…have you your selves gotten into any relationships?" Sakura asked nervously.

"…Hikari has" Daiki stated.

"With whom?" Sakura questioned, not believing it at all.

"Who else?" Hikari sneered.

"…?" Sakura raised both her eye brows questioningly.

"Me" a voice said to her right. Turning her attention to the right, Sakura choked on her own spit.

'_That was unexpected for some reason'_ Sakura mused.

"…"

"So then Kura-hime, how far have you come with the other Uchiha" Hikari smirked. Sakura blinked and then blushed a slight amount.

"H-he and I are merely friends" Sakura scoffed.

"I heard you have kissed numerous times before though" Deidara sneered.

"…Yes, that has happened a couple of times before, but, it was merely on accident-"

"Really, I recall a few that I heard were totally on purpose" Daiki smirked.

_FLASH BACK…_

_Sliding into her skirts effortlessly, all that remained were her top layers but before she was able to even lift her arms to slid them over her pink head she was engulfed by a deep and loving hug from Sasuke._

"_S-sasuke?" Sakura stuttered, turning her head to look at him._

"_Don't even joke around when saying you wouldn't be missed" Sasuke whispered into her ears from behind._

"_I-I w-wasn't" Sakura gulped._

"_Then don't you don't ever consider being serious about it either" Sasuke said seriously, turning her to face him._

"_Nani? Daijobou-mmph" Sakura exclaimed as she stared wide._

_Sasuke had just locked lips with her._

_And he tasted…_

_Heavenly…_

_Giving into the mind numbing kiss, Sakura moved her arms around his torso, hugging him closer to her exposed top half._

_As minutes passed the two finally broke free, breathing heavily, each stared into each others eyes._

_Silence ensured, engulfing the entire scene._

…_END FLASH BACK_

"Okay, so once we kissed, but he was the one who initiated contact" Sakura scoffed.

"And so have you gotten any further?" Hidan questioned.

"Why are we talking about _this_?" Sakura glared.

"Don't we have a right to know about out little Imotou-chan?" Daiki questioned.

"…"

"So _have_ you gotten any further?" Kazuku questioned.

"Why would we? He's engaged" Sakura scoffed.

"To whom?" Itachi asked.

"Her name is Kagaimi; err….long black hair tied up ito two pig tails, blue eyes, likes pink I assume" Sakura shrugged.

"I see, when are they going to get married and where?" Konan questioned.

"When: 28th of March-"

"That's gotta kinda sting" Deidara mused.

"Where: In a large blank field just outside of Konoha surrounded by cherry blossom trees and basically in the middle of the forest" Sakura finished.

"They're getting married where?!" Daiki growled as he stood up and glared down at the girl.

"You heard me" Sakura stated and sent a glare back with as much force as his "Why should you care anyway? _Murderer_"

"…"

"Anyway, come on Sakura-hime, please eat, we have no reason to poison you or anything to the like; we need to…speak…with you" Pein stated. Looking towards the man who called out to her, Sakura suppressed a shiver that went down her spine as she looked into his red eyes. Glaring momentarily, Sakura looked down at the food that was served to her. Like everyone else around her, it was elegantly presented on a pearl white plate with silver cutlery to her left. Picking up the silver fork, Sakura pecked at the garden salad that was served on the side for a moment before actually spearing a small cherry tomato with the said fork. Inspecting it suspiciously, Sakura ate the small fruit slowly, trying to detect if there were any poisons in the food given to her like the 'host' said there weren't. Finding nothing in particular odd with the small fruit, Sakura swallowed it and continued eating the rest of the salad.

"Hurry up and eat girl, this food isn't exactly cheap you know" Kazuku glared.

"Sakura-hime, really, are you that suspicious of us?" Deidara sneered.

"…to be honest" Sakura said as she placed the fork down "Yes"

"I'm actually kind of hurt Saku-hime" Daiki sighed "Aren't we your beloved onii-sama and onee-sama"

"…I believe blood relation is our only relation now" Sakura replied.

"What about me, Sakura-hime? Your beloved sparring partner?" Deidara pouted.

"Did I ever amount to claiming you were a _beloved_ sparring partner? I don't believe so and aside that, I can not ignore the whole 'trying to destroy the world and kill off mercilessly' thing you have going on around here" Sakura stated.

"Well then, since it seems you won't eat any longer" Konan spoke up.

"Geez, what a waste" Kazuku grumbled.

"Tobi will eat it up!" Tobi chirped before he stole the girl's plate.

"Greedy!" Kazuku glared.

'_Woah, they do speak'_ Sakura mused quietly as she looked around at the mysterious evil organisation she had supposedly eaten with.

"What do you want with me?" Sakura growled.

"Later, surely you would like to freshen up after being in bed for so long, Hikari-san, would you sure you Imotou-hime the bathrooms?" Pein requested.

"I want answers now!" Sakura growled.

"Not yet Sakura-hime" Pein insisted.

"Come Ku-ra-hi-me" Hikari sneered as she pulled the pink girl out of her seat, blindfolded her and dragged her to the bathroom, supposedly.

* * *

"Oh yea, just so you know, unlike the pathetic Konoha security, your points have actually been blocked, so don't even think about trying to leave here, it's impossible" Hikari whispered into the pink haired girl's ear before she was tossed into the bathroom.

* * *

"I'm of no use to the Akatsuki…what the hell do they want?" Sakura cursed as she washed her self quietly.

* * *

This went on for weeks. She would change into extravagant outfits which constantly changed with each passing day then she would eat marvelous food with the Akatsuki formally and once they even got off the topic of 'I-hate-you-what-the-hell-do-you-want?!' and had an actual conversation like normal people leaving Sakura more than confused. She was never really allowed to leave the room she was placed in for the first…few weeks (it felt like that to Sakura) one of the members would generally come and collect her if they wanted her for something. Occasionally, it would be one of her older siblings, and despite the tense air at the beginning, to Sakura, it honestly felt if they were bonding again, like when she was five.

In her honest feeling, she wanted to forget why she was here and just sink into this fake world where she and her siblings were together again; it must have been one of the biggest things she would miss in her life time. They would laugh, joke and have fun. However, she never understood the reason behind the room she had been stuck in. It confused her greatly, it was like the room of a princess or something and even though she was constantly called 'hime' she knew deep down she was far from it. To honest, in a way, she really did feel like one of those fairy tale princesses where the girl is waited on hands and foot no matter the situation, but she thought, that in reality, it was a trick to lower her guard; it was hard to make a judgment on the situation…

But then, something made her judgment falter…

_FLASH BACK…_

_Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time that day. Here she was in her…cell of sorts, sitting on the end of the bed, completely bored to death, quite frankly. Sakura preferred the cell in Konoha, at least there she could focus on something, and there was nothing to do AT ALL! There was no paper and pen to draw with, there was no window to drown into the scenery, she had already organised the new set of clothing she had received in the closet six times in the past hour and she had re-made the bed ten times before that! And there was no way she would reduce her self to talking to stuffed bunnies like she did when she was five!_

_Then the door opened. Turning her attention to the door, Sakura raised her eyes in curiosity when her sister came into the room gleefully._

"_Oh, you haven't changed out of your pajamas Kura-chan" Hikari noticed. Yea, she was still wearing what she slept in the night before; the same design as the one she woke up in weeks ago but in blue…it seemed there's every colour of the rainbow in these supposed pajamas._

"_What's the point?" Sakura questioned._

"_I suppose you're right, but to be honest, I was wondering how you're doing" Hikari chirped._

"_Why?" Sakura ask suspiciously._

"_Because knowing you, you're probably completely bored" Hikari chimed._

"_No, I'm fine" Sakura lied._

"_Oh okay, how do you like you're room? I decided it my self!" Hikari sang._

"…_why Usagi?" Sakura asked._

"_I remember when we were young you always loved the Usagi design, I thought you'd like it better" Hikari explained._

"_I see" Sakura nodded "Would it matter if I liked it or not? Aren't I just a prisoner to capture the Kyubi?" Sakura questioned._

"_That's just a bonus to our plans" Hikari smiled._

"_What are your plans?" Sakura asked._

"_Can't tell" Hikari replied gleefully._

"_Hikari, can I ask you something?" Sakura asked._

"_What is it?" Hikari blinked._

"_Did you honestly plan to kill the clan?" Sakura asked._

"…"

"_I didn't want to believe it, but then you said you guys did…but Daiki, a couple of weeks ago reacted unexpectedly…when I brought up the topic of where the younger Uchiha was getting married" Sakura murmured._

"_If you want the honest answer…no we didn't" Hikari replied._

"_Then why did you say you did?!" Sakura exclaimed._

"_When we fought those years back…Daiki and I noticed something…"_

"_What?"_

"_We noticed how strong you had gotten, and yet you didn't show any of that strength to us, we noticed you were holding back despite of all we said and did, nothing worked, but when…we said that…you exploded unexpectedly, Daiki and I just wanted to see how strong you had gotten without us, to see if you were excelling and living well" Hikari said "It's a known fact you weren't strong as a new born, everyone in the clan was surprised that you lived as long as you did by five" _

"…_I don't know whether to thank you for worrying or not…" Sakura murmured quietly._

"_When you told us you killed the murderers of the clan, Daichi and I were surprised, you were…so pure I suppose and being weak already, we were really surprised when you said you did kill men three times your height, we suspected you had her in you, but we didn't believe it"_

"_Then why did you just leave me in Suna ALONE?!"_

"_You were very young to understand what was going on; we were being chased because people believed we set up the massacre like Itachi-kun did…" Hikari explained "We left you alone so you could blend in easily and you wouldn't get hurt"_

"…"

"_Saku-chan, I know it's a rather big shock, but that's how life goes, we did it for you for some parts, but mostly ourselves" a new voice insisted. Gasping in surprise, Sakura turned to see her older brother looking at her._

"_Daiki…" Sakura muttered as she digested all this information._

"_Get over it please, it makes it easier on all of us, now in other matters, Deidara is extending an offer for you to train since you would most likely be bored" Daiki stated._

'_He's not the same as before, he's taken a leaf out of Itachi's book'_ _Sakura mused "I'll join you guys with training later, I just need time to think" Sakura answered._

"_Okay, we'll come collect you later" Daiki nodded before leaving with Hikari behind them._

'_I don't know what to do anymore…'_

…_END FLASH BACK_

…one conversation with her siblings and everything seemed to make her world crumble, so now, sitting at the table where they dine many months after she was first captured, the pink haired kunoichi ate calmly, wearing yet another magnificent gown and sitting in between Itachi and Deidara. It was still rather tense in the room, yet it wasn't the same time. There seemed to an air of trust that they all emitting after they allowed her to walk the halls of their lair freely, un-blindfolded and un-guarded. They even let her train with a portion of her chakra and a couple of weapons in their underground training facility numerous times. She her self had healed them a couple of times when they came back from 'missions' completed beaten up.

"You've shown quite a display lately with your sparring matches lately Sakura-hime" Pein began. Cutting through the tension like a knife.

"I suppose" Sakura shrugged as she ate the salad she was served.

"You are truly a magnificent kunoichi worth of so much more than you already have" Pein complimented.

"…like what? Is there something else for me to obtain?" Sakura asked.

"You have skills; you have power, speed, agility, flexibility; accuracy. You excel in all shinobi fields; genjutsu, ninjutsu, taijutsu, it seems like you your self have more strength flowing through you than any tailed beast, and yet we all know you have none in you. You're known around the world as the woman who surpassed the Godaime; _the_ Slug Princess in all her fields at what everyone knows now the tender age of 13 and if I must say my self you have the looks of a goddess" Pein continued "You're the art of perfection"

"…is there a point to such useless conversation?" Sakura asked twitching _'Just how old is he?'_

"Of course!" Deidara glared.

"Now Sakura-hime, we will get down to business" Pein stated "It has come to our attention that over the past eight years you have been doing a lot of things concerning the Akatsuki"

'_Shit'_ "And?"

"Aside the fact that we wanted to tell you congratulate you on being able to learn so many things of our organisation without us finding out until about three years ago, we are here to talk" Konan announced.

"You've snuck into our bases effortlessly and without any resistance what so ever"

"You have healed our members without any resistance or help what so ever"

"You've fought with us countless times and come out on top no matter what we do"

"You killed before any of us with very pathetic weapons only and horrible experience fighting"

"Keep all this in mind, as well as many other facts, we all agree on one thing" Pein stated.

"What?" Sakura frowned.

"You, Haruno Sakura shall join us" Konan shouted.

"No" Sakura growled.

"No?" Daiki questioned.

"Didn't you listen to me last time you guys said something similar to this?!" Sakura growled as she stood up from her seat "I will not abandon Konoha; I will not betray my friends! I am NOT becoming a missing nin!"

"But didn't you go back on your words for the past five years?" Hikari sneered.

"That my dear _'onee-sama'_ was an act!" Sakura growled "I was on a mission!"

"…oh really?" Hikari smirked.

"…yes" Sakura replied hesitantly.

"I guess we'll have to resort to other measures" Hidan mused, smirking evilly.

Backing up cautiously, Sakura managed to move about four centimetres before being stopped by the chair behind her.

"Oh don't worry Saku-chan, no measures shall involve you" Daiki confirmed.

"You stay away from Konoha, Suna and all it's inhabitants" Sakura snarled viciously.

"Well, we were thinking of that, but surely you would want the Kagaimi girl dead anyway?" Hidan questioned.

"Stay away from _all_ of Konoha, Suna and its inhabitants" Sakura repeated, growling.

"But she took away your dearest _Sasuke-kun_" Deidara frowned.

"He and I are merely friends and currently only team mates" Sakura huffed "Besides, even if we were more than just that, I wouldn't care; if he is happy then I have no right to interfere with it"

"Good, all the more, motive to join the Akatsuki if you have no emotional ties to anything" Konan mused.

"Aren't you listening? I SAID NO!" Sakura shouted as she managed to flip away from the table and landed next to the wall behind her.

"Don't think you can escape so easily!" Kazuku growled.

"I didn't saying anything about escaping did I?" Sakura smirked "I guess you guys didn't realize that on the first night I was in here I noticed how parts of your walls weren't level with the rest"

"What are you planning to-"  
"You wouldn't dare Kura-chan!" Hikari exclaimed.

"If you're going to plant a mine of explosive tags around you, be careful of who enters your domain, my eyes see everything"

"You're insane woman!" Kisame seethed.

"I guess the Haruno Clan will seize to exist now" Sakura smiled sadistically "We're all going to go out with a bang"

"This is so NOT art un!" Deidara growled.

"Don't do it Saku-chan! You'll kill us all" Daiki growled.

"Che" Sakura sneered under her breathe "That's the problem for when you have bases underground, maybe in the next life you'll remember this, remember you never mess with Haruno Sakura whose at full power and gets away with it! Chakra points can't be blocked forever!"

Suddenly Sakura gasped when she looked into Itachi's eyes for a split second. In seconds, images of her night mares blasted through the cells of her brain.

_This clan, it wasn't supposed to be captured so easily, it is a prestigious clan, one of great power, and yet, some how, they were captured, main and branch members alike. Each person tied up like cattle about to get slaughtered; each with a blind fold, except one little girl. _

_Each member was slaughtered, heads chopped off, arms sawed off, legs pulled off. Blood was spilt. Floors, walls, ceilings were caked in the thick, sticky, red substance. All of which, the young girl at the age of five, stood tied up witness to the brutal massacre. _

_The finale was about to arise. Up straight were the young girl's parents, the leaders of the clan. Both stripped of their clothes, and hands bound behind their backs. The girl watched as her own parents; who were also blind folded; were whipped, slashed, bashed, kicked, stabbed; they were tortured; possibly for the secrets of the clan, yet they said nothing. The girl's mother was kicked down and raped before her eyes. Her father was beaten more. Blood poured over the rich floors, splattered onto the decorative walls, leaked into the tiniest of crevices; it was every where._

_The more the young girl watched; the more she wanted to turn her head, and yet; she couldn't. She was forced, be it she wanted to or not, to watch the torturing of her parents._

_At that final note from her parents the girl watched as her parents life was ended with a stab to the heart and then a slice off a head. More blood was spilt, staining the young cherry blossom, splattering more family blood over the main house room. The bodies, like the others, fell limp and crashed onto the ground below. Both heads, rolled towards Sakura, both looking up to her, as if to say, "You were always a failure"_

_The girl fell to the ground, in shock. Her parents, her clan, friends, family, the people closest to her, all killed. A great clan, a strong clan, killed by rogue ninjas. No tears fell from the girl; she was in far too much shock to cry. _

The images of the slaughter repeated over and over again, these images of blood and gore repeated in her mind and yet the girl had yet to make any indication that she saw these images. Suddenly the images changed to past missions.

_The death of her comrades; Momochi Zabuza and Haku; there still seemed to be no reaction._

_News of Sasuke's engagement and marriage; no reaction._

_Meeting her brother and sister again; nothing._

_Fighting to the death countless times; nothing._

_Being tortured slowly for information she refused to tell anyone; nothing, not even a wince of pain._

_Watching the demon inside her disappear into thin air; the feeling of betrayal and loneliness piercing her heart over and over again; there was no reaction._

_The imagined death of her nakama by her own hand; something stirred in the girl when Itachi pressed on this image. She made a wince but then there was nothing. _

_Again there was another image, one where her nakama were betraying her and replacing her for Kagaimi._

_Images involving her nakama kept replaying over and over again getting worse and worse with each changing image._

_Suddenly there was a burst of power as a figure outlined in white appeared before Itachi's eyes and loamed over him. Before he knew what was happening he was being attacked by his own genjutsu and was force to disable the jutsu as he was tossed around like a rag doll._

"Uchiha Itachi" Sakura hissed slightly warily. Looking up, Itachi gulped inwardly at the amount of evilness the girl had surging out of her body "You stay away from my mind and my nakama" Sakura ordered before smirking. Tightening her fist, she focused her chakra into the closed fist, bringing every ounce of chakra she could muster in her body to that fist.

'_Gomen Konoha'_ Sakura whispered to her self _'And thank you Sasuke, Naruto__. These past few months where we were all together again…like a family…it made me feel so whole again…'_

Drawing her fist away from the wall for a moment; Sakura concentrated and compacted her chakra as tightly as she possibly could and with in seconds, slammed her fist back onto the wall. As she released the compacted chakra, the wall began to crumble into thousands of pieces forcing the wall to give out and brought down the roof above their heads which brought down the entire room. The only thing that anyone saw was darkness as the earth around them fell suffocating them in the dust and sand falling around them. With the friction of the moving earth, something was set off and in the instant that the roof caved in, an explosion erupted, blasting every one in the room out of their bodies.

'_Sayonara'_

* * *

**Notes:**

Hello again, I hope you liked the latest chapter! I have almost finished editing HNiS and, I know you will hate me, but I have a couple of possible stories that will come, one of them including one for pokemon, and no it's not a one-shot, I have actually written a couple of chapters but I feel that I need to fix it up and stuff like that still, so it won't come out for a while, and possibly won't come out at all. I also have a possible few one shots for Bleach, but until then, it stays at Naruto.

Haha.

* * *

**Chapter 3:** Just who are you?

* * *


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